#Vitamin D3, omega-3 fatty acids have no impact on AMD

(HealthDay)—For initially healthy men and women, supplementation with vitamin D3 and marine omega-3 fatty acids have no significant impact on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) incidence or progression, according to a study published online Oct. 29 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

William G. Christen, Sc.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a prespecified ancillary study of the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial of supplementation with vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acids for the primary prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Data were included for 25,871 men and women in the United States.

The researchers found that 324 participants experienced an AMD event (285 incident AMD and 39 progression to advanced AMD) during a median of 5.3 years of treatment and follow-up. For vitamin D3, there were 163 and 161 events in the treated and placebo groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 1.02; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.27). For omega-3 fatty acids, there were 157 and 167 events in the treated and placebo groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.94; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.76 to 1.17). In analyses of individual components for the primary end point, hazard ratios were not significant comparing vitamin D3 or omega-3 fatty acid groups for incident AMD or AMD progression.

“These negative results of a large, well-designed, and well-conducted clinical trial, performed by highly experienced investigators, is discouraging,” write the authors of an accompanying editorial.

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