Junk food, transfats could cause blindness

Alarming new research has revealed a poor diet can lead to the eye disease macular degeneration, which causes blindness in later life.

In recent years, MD numbers have skyrocketed and now the disease affects a staggering one in seven Australians over 50 - about 850,000 people.

The disease causes progressive damage to the central part of the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye which enables people to see detail clearly.

Poor nutrition reduces the levels of antioxidants in and around the eye's retina and enables waste products caused by fatty foods to damage the eye.

Specialists say MD used to only affect people in their 70s, but now they are seeing people as young as 40 suffering from it.

Leading optometrist Allan Ared, a Sydney specialist with clients in Queensland, said transfats in processed foods were a significant risk.

"Macular degeneration is a modern-day epidemic, but if you look back 100 years, we never had a problem with this disease," he said.

"It's only in the last 10 to 15 years that experts even became aware of what MD was.

"What's happened is processed foods have altered our nutritional intake and we are now eating foods every day that our ancestors only ate on special occasions.

"That bag of chips you eat today may certainly impair your vision tomorrow."

Experts advise people to eat vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc, as well as foods rich in antioxidants, such as dark leafy vegetables, citrus fruit, nuts, wholegrains, meat, fish and seafood.

Clinical studies show high-dose vitamin and zinc supplements can reduce the progression of MD by 25 per cent.

Alison Muir, national education co-ordinator for the Macular Degeneration Foundation, recommends people cut down on junk food.

"This disease is increasing and it is partly because we have a lot of processed foods in our diets now," she said.

source:www.news.com.au