This information is provided by Macular Degeneration Support at www.mdsupport.org. One printed copy is permitted for personal use only.
You May Need Vitamin D
by Dan Roberts
Updated May 21, 2007
If you are protecting your retinas by avoiding direct sunlight, you may also be depriving yourself of a natural source of vitamin D. This is the vitamin which allows your body to absorb enough calcium for strong bones. It is also important to protect us against muscle weakness and possibly a risk of breast, prostrate, and colon cancer.
In a Reader's Digest article ("Custom-Fit Vitamins," by Lisa Davis, November 2001), endocrynologist Michael Holick from Boston University recommended that adults expose their hands, arms, and faces to the sun for at least fifteen minutes three times a week. For people with macular degeneration, this would, of course, require wearing 100% UV and blue light protective sunglasses. If, however, this kind of exposure concerns you, then the alternative is to drink a glass of milk daily or take at least 400 IU of vitamin D, which can be gotten from most multi-vitamins. If you are over 70, at least 600 IU is recommended, which may mean taking additional supplementation.
A paper published in the May 2007 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology confirmed that supplemental vitamin D was inversely associated with early AMD, but only in individuals who did not consume milk daily. The researchers assessed 7,752 individuals, 11% of whom had AMD. They also found that levels of serum vitamin D were inversely associated with early AMD but not advanced AMD. (Study title: Association Between Vitamin D and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 Through 1994. Authors: Parekh N, et al.)