Vitamins Science

Age Related Eye Disease Study Research Group.

Background: Observational and experimental data suggest that antioxidant and/or zinc supplements may delay progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and vision loss.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of high-dose vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and zinc supplements on AMD progression and visual acuity.

Design: The Age-Related Eye Disease Study, an 11-center double-masked clinical trial, enrolled participants in an AMD trial if they had extensive small drusen, intermediate drusen, large drusen, noncentral geographic atrophy, or pigment abnormalities in 1 or both eyes, or advanced AMD or vision loss due to AMD in 1 eye. At least 1 eye had best-corrected visual acuity of 20/32 or better. Participants were randomly assigned to receive daily oral tablets containing:

1. antioxidants (vitamin C, 500 mg; vitamin E, 400 IU; and beta carotene, 15 mg);

2. zinc, 80 mg, as zinc oxide and copper, 2 mg, as cupric oxide;

3. antioxidants plus zinc; or

4. placebo.

Main Outcome Measures: (1) Photographic assessment of progression to or treatment for advanced AMD and (2) at least moderate visual acuity loss from baseline (> or =15 letters). Primary analyses used repeated measures logistic regression with a significance level of.01, unadjusted for covariates. Serum level measurements, medical histories, and mortality rates were used for safety monitoring.

Results: Average follow-up of the 3640 enrolled study participants, aged 55-80 years, was 6.3 years, with 2.4% lost to follow-up. Comparison with placebo demonstrated a statistically significant odds reduction for the development of advanced AMD with antioxidants plus zinc (odds ratio [OR], 0.72; 99% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.98). The ORs for zinc alone and antioxidants alone are 0.75 (99% CI, 0.55-1.03) and 0.80 (99% CI, 0.59-1.09), respectively. Participants with extensive small drusen, nonextensive intermediate size drusen, or pigment abnormalities had only a 1.3% 5-year probability of progression to advanced AMD. Odds reduction estimates increased when these 1063 participants were excluded (antioxidants plus zinc: OR, 0.66; 99% CI, 0.47-0.91; zinc: OR, 0.71; 99% CI, 0.52-0.99; antioxidants: OR, 0.76; 99% CI, 0.55-1.05). Both zinc and antioxidants plus zinc significantly reduced the odds of developing advanced AMD in this higher-risk group. The only statistically significant reduction in rates of at least moderate visual acuity loss occurred in persons assigned to receive antioxidants plus zinc (OR, 0.73; 99% CI, 0.54-0.99). No statistically significant serious adverse effect was associated with any of the formulations.

Conclusions: Persons older than 55 years should have dilated eye examinations to determine their risk of developing advanced AMD. Those with extensive intermediate size drusen, at least 1 large druse, noncentral geographic atrophy in 1 or both eyes, or advanced AMD or vision loss due to AMD in 1 eye, and without contraindications such as smoking, should consider taking a supplement of antioxidants plus zinc such as that used in this study.

Publication Types:

Randomized Controlled Trial

Study taken from Archives of Opthalmology, Oct. 2001, 119(10): 1417-36

For related articles click here

Antioxidants Science

Cells, as they age, lose their ability to eliminate the waste that accumulates inside; they no longer repair internal damage as well as they used to and the cell is a very sophisticated chemical and physical machine. Like any other machine it wears down and like any "engine" that produces energy it produces waste.

Your cells burn glucose and oxygen as a fuel and create a toxic waste or exhaust just like an automobile engine does burning gasoline and oxygen. The waste, or free radicals damage the engine of the cell as well as the cell nucleus, organelles (other manufacturing areas in the cell) and any other part of the cell they come into contact with.

Most products that are labeled antioxidants are indeed that but they generally do only part of the job. If you take vitamin E or vitamin C they will scavenge for and find the free radicals inside your body. They will collect the rogue electron but in so doing they will have added an extra electron to their own molecular structure and an extra electron needs to be denoted to prevent it from flying off on its own, creating a new free radical.

When SomaLife Super X enters your body, it finds its way to the cells and works in concert with SomaVit Plus to hand off those spare electrons that are creating havoc and clear them from the cell. The cell can function optimally and the ticking of your biological clock is slowed giving you back youthful energy and appearance.

Does SomaLife Super X Increase the Body's Own Antioxidants? Yes. Somalife Super X actually has some of the same characteristics of SomaLife gHP Youth Formula in that it stimulates the body's own repair and antioxidant systems into greater action. It increases the amount of glutathione as well as supports the function of another enzyme made in the cell called superoxide dismutase (S.O.D.). In scientific studies of other organisms S.O.D. has been proven to increase life span significantly, while glutathione (which is found in every cell in the body) is one of your first lines of defense against free radical activity.

What Causes Free Radicals in the First Place? Energy production whether it's in your cells or in your automobile engine produces heat and free radicals as well as energy. Usually the negative charge of the electrons of an atom balances the positive energy contained in the nucleus of the atom. When an electron is stolen or ripped away from a host atom as energy is produced, the atom becomes unbalanced and seeks another electron to replace the one that was stolen. This ripping off of electrons from other substances causes damage that can eventually be observed by the naked eye and that is called aging.

Before you go running to the mirror to see how much you have aged since breakfast, we have some great news for you. The SomaLife doctors have formulated the most powerful antioxidant in the world. It was created to institute a little traffic control on these runaway, speed crazy, unpaired atoms called free radicals. It's called SomaLife Super X. When you take a SomaLife Super X capsule into your body it sets up a chain of free radical scavenging reactions that occur on the inside of each of your cells.

Next: Testimonials