B Vitamins Could Lower Risk of Macular Degeneration

We know that Vitamin B has not been shown to prevent cancer. But apparently it has another healthy application.

A study at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston indicates that taking B vitamins could lower the risk for a leading cause of blindness in older Americans. USA Today (February 24, 2009) reported on the study.

"This is the first randomized trial to indicate a possible benefit of folic acid, B-6 and B-12 vitamin supplements in reducing the risks of age-related macular degeneration," said study author William Christen.

Christen and his team "collected data from a cardiovascular disease trial involving more than 5,200 women over 40 who reported they did not have macular degeneration at the study's start.... At study's end, 55 cases of age-related macular degeneration were confirmed in the vitamin group, and 82 were confirmed in the placebo group. Those who took the supplements had a 41% lower risk of being diagnosed with the disease."

The study appears in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine.