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Snack
Food Fats May
Increase Risk
of Eye Disease
Excerpt By Charnicia E. Huggins,
Reuters Health
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Decreasing one's intake of specific types
of fat, rather than fats in general, may help to lower a person's
risk of the eye disease known as age-related macular degeneration,
according to recent study findings.
Age-related
macular degeneration (AMD) is a currently untreatable disease
that causes fuzziness, shadows or other distortions in the center
of vision.
Some fats,
such as those found in processed foods, may increase an individual's
risk of the eye condition, while other fats, such as the omega-3
fatty acids found in tuna, salmon and other coldwater fish, may
decrease one's risk, lead study author Dr. Johanna M. Seddon of
the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary told Reuters Health.
To investigate,
Seddon and her colleagues performed a study of 349 individuals
aged 55 to 80 who had recently been diagnosed with age-related
macular degeneration. For comparison, a separate group included
504 individuals who did not have macular degeneration, but had
other eye diseases.
Individuals
who reported consuming foods high in vegetable fat had a more
than twofold greater risk of the eye disease than their peers
who did not eat a lot of vegetable fat, Seddon and her team reported
in the August issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. Those who ate
foods high in monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil, had a 71%
increased risk of the disease and those who ate foods high in
polyunsaturated fats, such as margarine, had an 86% increased
risk.
On the other
hand, people who reported diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids and
low in linoleic acid, found in corn and safflower oil, had a decreased
risk of the disease, the report indicates.
Foods with
high overall levels of all of these potentially harmful fats--vegetable
fat, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and linoleic acid--tend
to be processed, store-bought snack foods, Seddon and her colleagues
note.
``Eat a good
healthy diet,'' Seddon advised. ``Cut down on processed foods
(and) increase fish intake, but (eat) everything in moderation,''
she said.
The study
was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health.
SOURCE:
Archives of Ophthalmology 2001;119:1191-1199.
Reference
Source 89
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