Cocoa extract fails to prevent age-related vision loss, clinical trial finds

Brigham and Girls’s Hospital-led analysis stories no important long-term advantage of cocoa flavanol supplementation in stopping age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The paper is printed within the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

AMD is a progressive retinal illness and the commonest explanation for extreme imaginative and prescient loss in adults over age 50. AMD damages the macula, the central a part of the retina chargeable for sharp, detailed imaginative and prescient. Whereas peripheral sight is usually preserved, central imaginative and prescient loss can impair studying, driving, facial recognition, and different high quality of life duties. Abnormalities of blood circulation within the eye are related to the incidence of AMD.

Cocoa flavanols are a gaggle of naturally occurring plant compounds categorised as flavonoids, discovered primarily within the cocoa bean. These bioactive compounds have been studied for his or her vascular results, together with improved endothelial operate and enhanced nitric oxide manufacturing, which contribute to vasodilation and circulatory well being. Earlier trials have proven that reasonable consumption of cocoa flavanols might decrease blood stress, enhance lipid profiles, and cut back markers of irritation, suggesting a task in mitigating cardiovascular and associated vascular situations.

Within the examine titled “Cocoa Flavanol Supplementation and Danger of Age-Associated Macular Degeneration: An Ancillary Examine of the COSMOS Randomized Medical Trial,” researchers carried out a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized scientific trial to look at whether or not day by day supplementation with cocoa extract prevents the event or development of AMD.

A cohort of 21,442 U.S. adults (12,666 girls aged 65 and older, and eight,776 males aged 60 and older) have been recruited, with eligibility standards requiring discontinuation of non-trial cocoa dietary supplements and multivitamins for the three.6-year length of the trial. COSMOS included its personal multivitamin complement as one arm of the trial.

Day by day supplementation consisted of 500 mg cocoa flavanols containing 80 mg (−)-epicatechin. Randomization assigned members to both the cocoa extract or an identical placebo group. AMD outcomes have been recognized via self-reported diagnoses, verified via medical report affirmation. Compliance biomarkers confirmed a threefold improve in flavanol metabolite ranges within the cocoa group.

A complete of 344 members skilled a confirmed AMD occasion, together with 316 incident instances and 28 instances of development. Incidence was 1.5% within the cocoa extract group and 1.7% within the placebo group.

Statistical modeling discovered a non-significant diminished threat through the first two years of remedy (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.59–1.01), and a non-significant impact past two years (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.76–1.50). Comparable developments have been noticed in secondary outcomes.

In subgroup analyses, remedy impact assorted by hypertension standing, with a big diminished threat in members with out hypertension (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.44–0.92) and no important findings amongst these with hypertension (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.80–1.36).

Researchers concluded that cocoa extract supplementation had no important general impact on AMD threat over a median 3.6-year interval. Though researchers didn’t rule out a doable early profit development, the findings don’t assist cocoa flavanol supplementation as a preventive technique for AMD.

Examine authors notice that restricted trial length, modest dosage, and reliance on self-reported AMD diagnoses might have affected end result sensitivity. Decreased scientific eye care through the pandemic might have led to underreporting of AMD diagnoses.

© 2025 Science X Community