Researchers conducted the study among 38,022 females enrolled in the Women’s Health Study, who completed a food frequency questionnaire and were free of diagnosis of AMD at baseline. The goal of the study was to determine whether omega 3 fatty acids and fish affects incidence of AMD in women.
A total of 235 cases of AMD, most characterized by some combination of drusen and retinal pigment epithelial changes, were confirmed during an average of 10 years of follow-up. Women in the highest tertile of intake for DHA, compared with those in the lowest, had a multivariate-adjusted relative risk of AMD of 0.62. For EPA, women in the highest tertile of intake had a relative risk of 0.66. Consistent with the findings for DHA and EPA, women who consumed one or more servings of fish per week, compared with those who consumed less than one serving per month, had a relative risk of AMD of 0.58.
According to researchers, "These data appear to be the strongest evidence to date to support a role for omega 3 long-chain fatty acids in the primary prevention of AMD, and perhaps a reduction in the number of persons who ultimately have advanced AMD, and need to be confirmed in randomized trials."