January 2014
AREDS2 continued from page 20
"[This study] refined the
first AREDS formulation by
substituting beta-carotene with
lutein/zeaxanthin, which I think
improves safety and also
increases efficacy as well."
Emily Chew, MD
"You're not going to put everybody on it," Dr. Chew said. "[Physicians] will often have siblings or
offspring who come in [to the office]
and say, 'My dad has this terrible
disease, do you think I should be on
this?' But unless they have some
form of macular degeneration, it
probably isn't going to help them."
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AREDS2 has officially ended, but
will continue to have telephone
follow-up for another five years, Dr.
Chew said. Further results could be
released on other aspects of the
study. An AREDS3 is not planned.
"We don't have the resources at
the moment," Dr. Chew said. "We
certainly would like to see a trial that
would look at primary prevention of
macular degeneration because this is
a public health problem and it's
going to get bigger and bigger."
She said the amount of people
with AMD will likely increase
because of increased longevity and
population growth around the
world. Many issues remain that
need to be investigated about the
disease, especially with an increased
patient population into the future,
she said. EW
References
1. AREDS2 Research Group. Lutein + zeaxanthin and omega-3 fatty acids for age-related
macular degeneration: the Age-Related Eye
Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) randomized clinical
trial. JAMA. 2013;309(19):2005-2015.
2. Chew et al. Long-term effects of vitamins C,
E, beta-carotene and zinc on age-related
macular degeneration. Ophthalmology.
2013;120(8):1604-1611.
Editors' note: Dr. Chew has no financial interests related to this article.
Contact information
Chew: echew@nei.nih.gov
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