Daily tipple reduces risk of eye disease

01 March 1998

A daily glass of wine reduces the risk of developing age related macular degeneration (AMD), suggest the latest studies from the US.

This has come as a big surprise to doctors, who believed that alcohol consumption would increase these risks.

More than 3000 adults aged between 45 and 75 with macular changes suggestive of AMD were investigated by Howard University, Washington. In total, 184 people (6 per cent) had AMD-4 per cent of those who drank wine and 9 per cent of those who drank no alcohol whatsoever.

Results show that those who drink wine are 20 per cent less likely to develop AMD than are those who drink beer or spirits or who do not drink at all.

Researchers attribute the reduced risk to a combination of the antioxidant effect of wine and its ability to inhibit the platelets in the blood from sticking together (The Lancet,1995; 351: 117).

Daily tipple reduces risk of eye disease

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