THURSDAY, Oct. 4, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) is associated with a reduced risk for incident advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study recently published in Ophthalmology.

Bénédicte M. J. Merle, Ph.D., from the Université de Bordeaux in France, and colleagues examined correlations between adherence to the MeDi and incidence of advanced AMD in two European population-based prospective cohorts: the Rotterdam Study I (RS-I; 4,446 participants aged 55 years or older) and the Antioxydants, Lipides Essentiels, Nutrition et Maladies Oculaires (Alienor) Study (550 participants aged 73 years and older).

The researchers found that 155 participants demonstrated advanced incident AMD (117 from the RS-I and 38 from the Alienor Study). Participants with a high MeDi score showed a significantly reduced risk for incident advanced AMD versus participants with a low score (range, 6 to 9 versus 0 to 3) in the fully adjusted model using data for both the RS-I and Alienor Study (hazard ratio, 0.59).

“These findings support the role of a diet rich in healthful nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and fish in the prevention of AMD,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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