PRODUCT PROFILE Meena Puar discusses the importance of supplementation for total eye health – and how to educate patients about their benefits
Feast your eyes GUIDANCE FOR TOTAL EYE HEALTH
As clinicians, we never cease doing the best we can to help patients, and so when new innovations and technologies emerge we find ourselves wanting to increase our knowledge and develop our skillsets. Recent examples include optical coherence tomography (OCT) and myopia management. Another topic which has seen a rise in PubMed publications in recent years is nutritional supplementation and eyecare. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment, with numbers predicted to increase from 196 million to 288 million by 20501,2. With a large ageing population, it is important to stop this tidal wave of age-related eye conditions and reduce the burden on NHS resources and ophthalmology departments. This is where the conversation around nutrition and eyecare is paramount.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER Simply eating a good diet is not enough for good eye health – and this is where your recommendation can be very powerful3 (Figure 1). Surveys have shown that only four per cent of people eat enough of the recommended foods to support their eye health4. As eyecare practitioners (ECPs) we have a duty of care at the very least to provide our patients with information so that they can make an informed choice. Evidence suggests that certain nutrients can benefit our eye health (Figure 2). For a number of reasons (including cost, dietary
Figure 1. Practitioner recommendation can be extremely powerful
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Figure 2. Certain nutrients can benefit eye health
habits and lifestyle) it can be difficult for patients to get these by diet alone. Figure 3 illustrates how much a patient would need to eat daily to get the same nutritional value from just one Nutrof Total capsule. Recommending a supplement like Nutrof Total can safeguard intake of these specific nutrients.
WHEN TO RECOMMEND SUPPLEMENTS We are all living longer and know that as we age, waste disposal in the retina slows down. Certain lifestyle choices can also impact this system negatively, including: • Cigarette smoking • Exposure to excessive light • High blood pressure • Fatty diets
Patients may be aware of how the above affects other aspects of health, but it is our duty to advise patients on maintaining the health of their eyes and vision. This may include offering services such as OCT to screen for conditions, and providing advice on supplements to support eyes nutritionally. Asking open questions about nutrition, diet, lifestyle, risk factors such as family history of AMD and smoking, is a great starting point when doing history and symptoms. It can also be helpful to incorporate a nutritionalbased questionnaire as a screening and grading evaluation (Figure 4). As ECPs, we are continually measuring changes and offering advice accordingly. We can now utilise imagery from OCTs, together
Figure 3. Daily nutritional equivalent to one Nutrof Total capsule
