Tuesday, February 21, 2012

You Need Omega 3 Fats for Eye Health, Especially If You Have Retinitis Pigmentosa

It has long been known that an adequate supply of the Omega 3 fats is good for you, reducing your risk of heart attack, and therefore death, as well as helping improve a whole range of health conditions.
In fact it seems that there are powerful reasons why those of us whose diets are deficient in the Omega 3 fats should be eating a diet higher in Omega 3, or taking fish oil supplements.
However we don't immediately associate increasing your Omega 3 intake with eye health. And yet there is ample evidence that plenty of the Omega 3 fats DHA and EPA is important to the health of your eyes from the start of your life right through to the end.
In fact the retinas in your eyes have a significant amount of Omega 3 fats in them, and is now being understood that, from early on in life, infants should have a sufficient supply of Omega 3 fats in their diet as this helps with the development of infant visual accuity.
It is also now established that increasing the amount of Omega 3 in the diet can help older people who may be suffering, or who may well start suffering from macular degeneration which is a condition of the eyes which affects older people. It is in fact the leading cause of blindness in older people in the US.
So it comes as no surprise that there is now evidence that other eye diseases may also benefit from more essential fatty acids. One of these is a disease of the eyes called Retinitis Pigmentosa.
Retinitis Pigmentosa is a relatively uncommon, and hereditary eye disease which affects around one in 4000 people. It has a range of symptoms, which often become apparent in early life, including night blindness, tunnel vision and blindness for some.
There is no current cure for Retinitis Pigmentosa.
However 3 studies are now establishing that increasing your intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA, in conjunction with an increased intake of vitamin A, may help slow the visual deterioration which results from having Retinitis Pigmentosa.
This is excellent news for those who suffer from this eye disease. It is certainly not a cure, however where a cure is not available it is better to slow the progression of a disease than not.
So it's quite clear that increasing your intake of the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA, either through eating foods rich in Omega 3 such as fish, or more commonly through taking fish oil supplements, will not only help your heart, and a range of other parts of your body, it is also good for your eyes.
Visit my website to find more about the health benefits of Omega 3.

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