Vegetable Oils & Macular Degeneration Eye Condition Linked to Diet

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Vegetable Oils & Macular Degeneration Eye Condition

Linked to Diet

by Anna Coren

 

Macular degeneration is the most common cause of

blindness in Australia but new research suggests

avoiding vegetable oils could prevent the condition.

 

It's spreading like a disease - a blindness called

macular degeneration affecting at least 800,000

Australians and costing $1.5 billion per year in

health care.

 

But with the latest research pointing to vegetable

oils as the main culprit, it's possible we may be able

to fend off this disease by simply changing our diets.

 

You might not cook with vegetable or canola oil but

take a look at the ingredients in any sauce, dip,

bread, margarine or biscuit - any processed food for

that matter. Vegetable oil is hidden in all of them.

 

Most of us have been consuming these processed foods

from the time we could walk. Dr Paul Beaumont from the

Macular Degeneration Foundation has been studying the

link.

 

" [The research] showed that people eating vegetable

oil got the disease twice as commonly as the people

who didn't, " Dr Beaumont said.

 

" Even more convincing was a prospective study where

they looked at patients with the disease and those

eating too much vegetable oil progressed at 3.8 times

the rate of those eating a little vegetable oil. You

look at bread, they make it on margarine, you look at

currants and they've gone and sprayed vegetable oil on

them to stop them from sticking, you go and try and

get tinned fish and they've put it in vegetable oil.

So yes, it's become ubiquitous, it's crept right into

our food chain and you hardly know you're eating it. "

 

Gwen Oliver was diagnosed with macular degeneration

two years ago. She was astonished when Dr Beaumont

told her to steer clear of vegetable oils and only

cook with extra virgin olive oil. " I was surprised

about diet and all the products that we've been eating

in the past, " Ms Oliver said. " We've always had it

advertised that vegetable oil was far better for us. "

 

The macular sits at the back of the eye. It's made up

of many different nerve cells. The oils that you eat

become part of your eye but normally they're used and

flushed out.

 

When you're eating vegetable oils, researchers believe

the eye can't seem to biodegrade the oil and it ends

up blocking the cells and causing macular

degeneration.

 

" In the 1920s and 30s they started to get big presses

that produced hundreds of tons of vegetable oil, " Dr

Beaumont said. " In 1957 margarine outsold butter so

we've had this massive infiltration of our food chain

by vegetable oils. " Dr Beaumont says he doesn't

envisage vegetable oil being removed from all foods,

but says there should be a consumer health warning. " I

think we have to have a warning on the packages

similar to a warning of a cigarette package:

'vegetable oil can lead to macular degeneration', " he

said.

 

The major reason for blindness in Australia 30 years

ago was diabetes and it was rare to find macular

degeneration. Today the condition has overtaken

diabetes five-fold and is now the leading cause of

loss of vision in Australia. Two-thirds of those who

lose their vision are blind due to macular

degeneration.

 

" I've seen an exponential rise from the early 1970s

through to the 1990s, " Dr Beaumont said. " If we look

at Japan 40 years ago the disease was rare, now it's

common. I don't think there's any doubt we have an

epidemic. "

 

Dr Paul Beaumont is horrified at the rate macular

degeneration has multiplied. He's seen a tenfold

increase in the last 30 years. " I think we could halve

the number of people going blind with macular

degeneration if we could change their diet, cut out

the vegetable oil, " Dr Beaumont said.

 

When macular degeneration strikes, patients like Gwen

Oliver are first given laser therapy to help stem the

bleeding. They're also told to look at a chart daily

and if they see any difference in the lines on the

charts -such as a straight line looking bent - it's

back to Dr Beaumont for treatment.

 

But for Jillian Price, laser therapy didn't work. Her

last chance is a cutting edge treatment called

photodynamic therapy. It doesn't look like much but it

causes plenty to happen inside the body.

 

" You inject a chemical that slowly accumulates in that

blood vessel and doesn't accumulate in normal

tissues, " Dr Beaumont said. " And then you shine a

light on the eye and it selectively activates that

chemical that shuts down the abnormal tissue and

[does] not damage the normal. "

 

For Jillian Price, the disease has disabled her life

as an active woman.

 

" Two months is very fast to lose so much sight; I've

lost a lot of my independence, " Ms Price said. " The

distance, everything is distorted, getting on the

buses, shopping is very hard, I can't read labels any

more. One day I was doing crosswords and the next day

I couldn't. "

 

A specialist told Colin Noble he'd be blind within 18

months. Luckily Colin sought a second opinion and

today he's one of the lucky 10 per cent who regain

vision after having photodynamic therapy.

 

" Usually the treatment merely stops or slows down the

degeneration. It's a miracle, I'm so grateful for this

man, " Mr Noble said. " It's had a big effect on my life

and my family's life … it's allowed me to do so many

things. I can still tie a fish hook, important things

like that … I'm a very lucky bloke. "

 

Dr Beaumont has lobbied the federal Health Department

to help fund this huge

problem, but to date nothing has happened. " I think

they should move fairly urgently, " he said. " I don't

think we can afford to delay in informing the public

about something which can be affecting their vision. "

 

The federal Health Department is looking into this

massive problem but wouldn't tell us any more than

that. As for the Australian Food and Grocery Council -

the voice of the food manufacturers who use vegetable

oil - they had nothing to say, except that they were

waiting to hear more evidence linking vegetable oil

and macular degeneration.

 

" There are hundreds of thousands of Australians

waiting for that advice, " Dr Beaumont said. " And I

think the government has to move quickly. "

 

For more information please contact the Macular

Degeneration Foundation on

1800 111 709 or visit www.mdfoundation.com.au

 

BROADCAST DATE: July 5, 2004

Channel 7, Today, Tonight