Supplements with Retinopathy

I take all three supplements (including zeaxanthine) myself but I do not have any traces of retinopathy at present; only very early stage cataracts. I take the supplements for eye health maintenance or as a preventative. It should be quite safe to use but may not reverse an existing diseased condition. Two other supplements that have been shown to have possible benefit in pre proliferative retinopathy are pine bark extract and C-peptide.

You might want to read Ray Sahelian's article on supplements for diabetic retinopathy for his viewpoints on the topic.

As someone who has had retinopathy problems in the past I asked my Ophthalmologist if supplements were worth buying, he said he didn't think they were and insisted that a diet rich if fruit & vegetables provided all the nutrients to aid eye health.

Chalky, if you've not seen the following website I suggest you have a good read around, it has a wealth of information on diabetic retinopathy:

http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/Information_for_patients.html

When I saw a consult for check up after cataract surgery, I asked his opinion about vitamins and supplements, he said the only one he would recommend was fish oil to keep eye in good order.

CarbsRok said:

I asked his opinion about vitamins and supplements, he said the only one he would recommend was fish oil to keep eye in good order.

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Orally, or topically applied?
Sorry,
I'll get me coat

Hi @chalky

I've no traces of retinopathy but I've been using goji berries and lutein for a while. The first is also claimed to lower blood glucose although I didn't have the pleasure to notice such an effect on myself. Different studies show the improvement of night vision by using lutein supplement. As such, I believe that lutein helps restoring the wellbeing of rods: the photoreceptors responsible of vision in darkness. Rods, or better their high metabolic rate, together with hyperglycemia are the main responsible for the development of diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, I don't think lutein intakes may make worse a pre-proliferative retinopathy condition but this's only my personal opinion and I'm not an Ophthalmologist. What I'm using nowadays is rather a light treatment called Noctura 400 that's meant to reduce retinal hypoxia, thus reducing the production of VEGF. You can find more info about Noctura 400 on this other thread: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/green-light-for-retinopathy-treatment.67768/ or directly here: http://noctura.com.

When my grandmother was diagnosed with Macular degeneration, she was advised to eat copious amounts of green veg, spinach in particular, and there seems to be evidence that this is good for eye problems. Might be worth considering.