Multi-component formula shows potential eye health benefits for diabetics: RCT

By Stephen DANIELLS

- Last updated on GMT

Image © iStockPhoto
Image © iStockPhoto

Related tags Diabetes mellitus

Six months of supplementation with xanthophyll pigments, antioxidants and selected botanical extracts may improve visual function in diabetes, says a new study.

Certain metabolic disorders like diabetes may affect vision long before diagnosis, and vision performance or quality parameters such as color vision and contrast sensitivity can diminish over time.

New data published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology​ indicated that daily supplements of ZeaVision’s EyePromise DVS nutritional supplement led to “significantly better visual function”​, compared to placebo.

“The Diabetes Visual Function Supplement Study (DiVFuSS)demonstrates that clinically meaningful improvements in visual function can be realized with a novel, multicomponent nutritional formula in patients with long or short term diabetes duration, whether Type 1 or 2,” ​said Dr A. Paul Chous, lead investigator of the study. “Our findings suggest the DiVFuSS supplement formula positively influences diabetes-induced visual dysfunction.”

The study used ZeaVision’s EyePromise DVS nutritional supplement and the company also sponsored the study. The formula consists of vitamins C, D3 and E, zinc oxide, EPA, DHA, alpha-lipoic acid, CoQ10, mixed tocotrienols/tocopherols, zeaxanthin, lutein, benfotiamine, NAC, grape seed extract, resveratrol, curcumin, green tea leaf, and Pycnogenol.

Dr Dennis Gierhart, founder of ZeaVision, welcomed the study’s findings, noting, “Numerous clinical research studies have demonstrated that nutritional intake of certain phytonutrients affects vision quality and eye health. Nutrients vital to eye health can enhance vision quality and performance in multiple ways.”

Study details

Dr Chous and his co-workers recruited 67 people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to participate in their randomized, controlled clinical study. The participants were randomly assigned to receive two softgels of the EyePromise DVS supplement daily, or placebo for six months.  

Results showed that the supplement was found to significantly increase contrast sensitivity by 28%, improve color vision by 42%, and increase Macular Pigment Optical Density (MPOD) by 27%, said the researchers.

The EyePromise DVS group also displayed improvements in most serum lipids and in high-sensitivity CRP (a marker of inflammation), said the researchers.

On the other hand, no significant differences between the groups were observed for retinal thickness, HbA1c (a marker of long-term presence of excess glucose in the blood), or total cholesterol.

“This suggests that the DiVFuSS formula positively influences the pathogenesis of diabetes-induced retinal dysfunction with concomitant effects on visual function in a manner independent of tight or improved blood glucose control,”​ wrote the researchers. “Future studies to validate these effects both over time and in more severe diabetic retinopathy seem warranted.”

Source: British Journal of Ophthalmology
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2014-306534
“The Diabetes Visual Function Supplement Study (DiVFuSS)”
Authors: A.P. Chous, S.P Richer, J.D. Gerson, R.A. Kowluru

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