Following on from our news story last week about how fruits and vegetables can help reduce vision loss in older age, a new study has found that vitamins B6 and B12 can also help preserve our eyesight as we get older.
Taking a combination of vitamins B6 and B12 together with folic acid can reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Researchers made the discovery when they gave supplements to a group of 5,442 women aged 40 and older who already had heart disease or three other risk factors for AMD.
Over a seven-year period, the women were given either a placebo, or sugar pill, or the supplements. Those who took the supplements reduced their risk of AMD by 34 per cent, and of ‘visually significant’ AMD by 41 per cent.
(Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2009; 169: 335. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2008.574).