Study: Dietary Oral Zeaxanthin Slows the Progression of Wet AMD

Data published in the peer-reviewed journal Ophthalmology and Therapy has confirmed the findings of an earlier comparative trial and a 2-year randomized clinical trial, confirming that a daily intake of 20 mg of dietary zeaxanthin reduces the risk of developing wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the second eye.

The study, titled "Prevention Surpasses Treatment: 5-year Follow-Up, Cost-Utility, and Cost–Benefit of Zeaxanthin Therapy for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration," is a 5-year follow-up, case-control study that revealed oral zeaxanthin's effectiveness in decreasing the incidence of wet macular degeneration in the second eye by 54% among individuals who already had wet macular degeneration in the first eye.

This indicates that those who benefit from this therapy are likely to maintain driving vision. Moreover, zeaxanthin supplementation led to an overall improvement of 7.2% in the quality of life for each participant.

In addition to this study, the Second Age-Related Eye Disease Studies (AREDS2) Research Group also published 5-year post-trial data in JAMA Ophthalmology in 2022, which demonstrated that a combination of the nutrients lutein + 2 mg zeaxanthin daily reduced the development of severe macular degeneration by 9%.

Based on the current report's data, it is suggested that the 20 mg zeaxanthin dose, when added to the AREDS2 recommended supplements with 2 mg zeaxanthin, is 54% more effective in preventing wet macular degeneration in the second eye. Importantly, no serious ocular or systemic complications were observed from the use of zeaxanthin.