Omega oils and fish lower the risk of AMD in women.

Regular intake of omega-3 fatty acids and fish is linked to a significant reduction in the risk of AMD, according to a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology.

A team led by Dr William G. Christen, Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, asked 38 022 women to complete a food-frequency questionnaire. The outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity to 20/30 or worse based on self-report confirmed by medical record review.

The results, after 10 years of follow-up, confirmed that women in the highest percentile of docosahexaenoic acid consumption, compared with those in the lowest, had a multivariate-adjusted relative risk of AMD of 0.62. For eicosapentaenoic the risk of AMD was 0.66.

The consumption of omega-3 fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid could be beneficial in the primary prevention of AMD.