News
Taking medication daily may increase the risk of vitamin deficiency
24 June 2011
Daily intake of three or more drugs can be associated with a low status of vitamin D, K, and the B-vitamins in the elderly, a new Austrian study suggests.
04 May 2013
A daily supplementation with lutein may improve visual performance and help with tasks such as driving at night, suggests a study from China.
In this randomized controlled trial, 120 healthy participants who had spent an average of 10 hours per day driving over the course of the two years before the beginning of the study received either a daily dose of lutein (20 milli-grams) or a placebo for one year (1). The participants’ visual acuity, serum lutein concentrations, macular pigment optical density (MPOD), and visual performance were measured at regular intervals during the study. The study results showed that the lutein group had a significant increase in serum lutein levels and central MPOD, while no such changes were recorded in the placebo group. In addition, significant increases in contrast and glare sensitivity, especially in the mesopic condition (nighttime light level), were measured. Moreover, the lutein group showed a trend towards improved visual acuity, but this did not demonstrate significant differences.
Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that a supplementation with lutein may improve driving at night as well as other spatial discrimination tasks carried out under low illumination. Although the results did not support a direct link between supplementation and changes in visual acuity, they provided evidence that increased intakes of lutein could significantly improve visual performance and vision-related quality of life when ambient illumination is low.
The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin are vital for eye health. Both are found in high concentrations in the macula. They are the only carotenoids capable of filtering the harmful blue light that can damage cells in the eye, the rods and the cones. The cones are used for vision in well-lit conditions (photopic vision), whereas the eye switches over to the rods for seeing under very low level light (scotopic vision). At many nighttime levels (mesopic vision), a combination of rods and cones is used.
24 June 2011
Daily intake of three or more drugs can be associated with a low status of vitamin D, K, and the B-vitamins in the elderly, a new Austrian study suggests.
30 April 2019
Nutrition experts and health care practitioners at the 20th Journées Interactives de Réalités Pédiatriques (JIRP) in Versailles, France, a leading pediatric conference that reports on research and scientific developments in infant and child health, discussed the importance of dietary fats, including the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA). Learn more.
21 August 2013
A new review from New Zealand suggests that there is little to no evidence that supplementation with antioxidants, such as vitamins E and C, improves women's chances becoming pregnant.