Glaucoma is the second leading cause of vision loss in the world, affecting over 3 million Americans. What’s more concerning: 50% of people who have it don’t know because it’s often asymptomatic in the early stages. While there is currently no permanent resolution for glaucoma, eye care professionals recommend special eye drops, oral supplements, and even surgery to address it. However, Pinakin Davey, PhD, OD, FAAO, wanted to know if carotenoids could help reduce the visual impact of glaucoma.

The Review

In an article published in MDPI, Dr. Davey and colleagues reviewed the potential of zeaxanthin and lutein as an additional method of care for patients with glaucoma. These carotenoids make up the macular pigment, a protective layer in the retina that helps reduce oxidative stress on the sensitive photoreceptors. They conducted a systematic review of existing literature found in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases. From these sources, they determined 20 clinical records they deemed fit to be included in this meta-analysis.

The Results

Overall, the clinical studies found a protective trend with a higher dietary intake of these macular carotenoids. Specifically, “Lutein demonstrated enhanced neuroprotection on retinal ganglion cell survival and preserved synaptic activity.” Additionally, higher density of macular pigment (also correlated with increased consumption of zeaxanthin and lutein) was positively correlated with visual performance in patients with glaucoma.

What This Means

Zeaxanthin and lutein are critical nutrients for supporting retinal health and maintaining optimal visual function. This research suggests that increasing daily intake of dietary zeaxanthin and lutein can potentially help protect long-lasting vision in glaucoma patients. Inversely, depletion of these macular pigments, leading to low macular pigment optical density (MPOD), may be associated with increased risk of vision loss.

How to Measure MPOD

There are a few ways to measure MPOD in your practice. Along with a group of engineers and scientists, Dr. Davey helped to miniaturize MPOD measurement technology, improving its performance and reproducibility. This resulted in a new portable direct measurement device with excellent repeatability and agreement with predicate devices. Due to Dr. Davey’s study and the data collected, the Zx Pro™ was born!

How to Improve MPOD

Improving MPOD is almost as easy as measuring it. If you recommend your patients take an EyePromise macular supplement, they are guaranteed to increase their MPOD in 6 months. EyePromise® Zeaxanthin + Lutein offers the two most critical carotenoids in a convenient 1 or 2 softgel dose (depending on MPOD score). Additionally, the Zx Pro can offer you and your patients a numerical score to help track the progress of their supplementation.

While these results are promising for the addition of carotenoid supplementation in glaucoma care, Dr. Davey and team stress that further clinical studies should be conducted to confirm these findings. However, supplementation with dietary carotenoids and increasing MPOD can help with many different eye health issues. To learn more about adding the Zx Pro and EyePromise nutraceuticals to your practice, have an EyePromise Regional Account Manager contact you.