Lutein-Rich Diet and Supplements Lead to Crystalline Macular Crystals
It has been reported in the JAMA Ophthalmology journal that a lady was seen in a medical retina clinic for an examination due to "foveal sparkles" on her fundus examination. Case history reported that she had been taking a 20 mg lutein supplement for approximately 8 years on top of her lutein rich diet, which included a daily kale, spinach, avocado and broccoli smoothie.
Although asymptomatic and with visual acuities of 6/6, the fundus displayed sparkling round and yellow crystalline deposits in the inner layers of of her foveal retina. It did find that after removing the supplement, but keeping her eye-healthy diet, that the crystals resolved after 7 months.
With many optometrist practices now stocking supplements and the emphasis on dietary eye-health high, optometrists need to be aware of what to recommend and when. The guidance from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 recommending AMD patients take 10 mg of lutein daily, care must be taken to ensure the patient does not exceed this limit regularly. It is also a case of ensuring that supplements are recommended in those patients that actually require them.
Source: JAMA Ophthalmology
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