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In a recent study in to the effects of Vitamin D on the human eyes and vision itself, researchers have seen improvements in mice in regards to age related eye conditions when supplemented with the vitamin. The hope is that this observation will now lead to the start of trials and testing to determine whether such treatments can be used with humans with similar eye diseases.
The research team from University College London hope that this study will lead to a breakthrough which will enable patients and sufferers of age related visual disorders, such as Age Related Macular Degeneration, to take vitamin D3 in an effort to treat their condition. In mice, the vitamin showed that the effects usually associated with an aging mouse's eyes were reduced or slowed, indicating that such treatments may make significant headway into the improvement of the vision of mice of an older age. As it is little more than a vitamin, the ability to add vitamin D3 to your current vitamin intake would be a cheap and effective way of improving a persons vision, particularly over time.
However, before patients clamor for its adoption into general medical knowledge, it is important to point out that the test subjects, mice, were not sufferers of Age Related Macular Degeneration. The research focused around the effects on expected eye related issues that an aging mouse may have or face and as such is not a direct equivalent of the condition AMD that humans can face.
So what is the theory behind vitamin D3 and its ability to improve vision in older specimens?
Well vitamin D3 has already been well documented regarding its effects on reducing inflammation in the body as well as having positive results regarding the bodies metabolism, both common causes in affecting the blood supply that the eye, or to be more specific retina, needs to function correctly. In essence, as our body ages, as expected, certain parts do not work quite as efficiently. In the case of the retina, it requires a constant, efficient blood supply so that it doesn't begin to deteriorate and thus affect a persons vision and sight. As expected, during the testing on mice, vitamin D3 showed improvements on both counts which lead to an improvement in the mice's visual abilities. Now while the conditions that the mice were subject to weren't a direct link, AMD in humans focuses around the macula, the centre of the retina, and the build up of abnormal blood vessels behind the retina. It is therefore hoped that this very similar link between age related conditions in both humans and mice, can benefit from vitamin D3 as in both instances, the treatment revolves around the improvement in blood flow to the eye.