OTC Medicines claiming to promote eye health may contain misleading labels.
OTC Medicines claiming to promote eye health may contain misleading labels on treatments associated with age-related macular degeneration reports the New York times in a recent health blog. Age-related macular degeneration is one of the leading leading causes of severe vision loss in elderly Americans. According to the Times article, for the many of those who have it, there’s no effective treatment. And it generally worsens with time.
Dr. Ingrid Scott, at Penn State College of Medicine, notes a “big clinical trial,” called AREDS was conducted by the National Eye Institute and it “showed that certain nutritional supplements could slow the progression of macular degeneration and reduce the risk of vision loss.”
Manufacturers “quickly responded with a host of over-the-counter pills making a host of claims” that “supposedly help people with macular degeneration.” Dr. Scott and her research colleagues “recently reviewed the ingredients of these products and found reasons to proceed with caution.” The study, published in the journal Ophthalmology, “found that most best-selling products didn’t follow the proven AREDS formula,” and also made no mention of the fact that “the AREDS results don’t pertain to everyone.”
Dr. Doug Herriott, with Eyecare Associates of Lees Summit, notes that “because many of these products are not considered drugs by the FDA the companies are not required to show any testing or proof that their products are effective. Yet Americans spend billions of dollars annually on many of these products.”
According to Dr. Herriott many new advances are available to help who develop age related macular degeneration. “As with many diseases of the eyes and body early detection is often very important. Patients often have small changes in their vision that they associate with changes in their glasses and put off coming in for a medical eye exam to rule out eye diseases. This delay may be the difference between sustaining serious vision loss and preventing it.”
There are many new non invasive technologies that we employ in the offices such as digital retinal imaging, OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography which is an advanced retinal imaging technique), and FAF (fundus autofluorescence) to determine if a patient has or is at risk for macular degeneration.
If you or a family member are concerned about macular degeneration, don’t pick a supplement without consulting someone who knows why you should take it. See Dr. Herriott or any of our wonderful doctors at Eyecare Associates of Lees Summit today for an appointment. Call or Text us 816-524-8900 or schedule your eye exam online today.
