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Research: CHRISTEN and co-authors,
Listed in Issue 143
Abstract
CHRISTEN and co-authors, Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 900 Commonwealth Ave E, Boston, MA 02215-1204, USA, wchristen@rics.bwh.harvard.edu, have studied the connection between beta-carotene and age-related macular degeneration.
Background
The aim of this study was to test whether beta-carotene supplementation affects the incidence of age-related maculopathy in a large-scale randomized trial.
Methodology
In this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, 22 071 apparently healthy US male physicians aged 40 to 84 years were randomly assigned to receive beta-carotene (50 mg every other day) or placebo. The main outcome measure was incident age-related maculopathy responsible for a reduction in best-corrected visual acuity to 20/30 or worse.
Results
After 12 years of treatment and follow-up, there were 162 cases of age-related maculopathy in the beta-carotene group versus 170 cases in the placebo group (relative risk, 0.). The results were similar for the secondary end points of age-related maculopathy with or without vision loss (275 versus 274 cases; relative risk, 1.01) and advanced maculopathy (63 versus 66 cases; relative risk, 0.97).
Conclusion
These randomized data over 12 years of treatment among a large population of apparently healthy men indicate that beta-carotene supplementation has no beneficial or harmful effect on the incidence of age-related maculopathy.
References
Christen WG, Manson JE, Glynn RJ, Gaziano JM, Chew EY, Buring JE, Hennekens CH. Beta carotene supplementation and age-related maculopathy in a randomized trial of US physicians.. Archives of Ophthalmology 125 (3): 333-339, Mar 2007.
