Moderate Red wine consumption may protect vision, retina specialist says

The protective effects of resveratrol against oxidative stress and angiogenesis might be the key to why moderate red wine drinkers are at a reduced risk of developing age related macular degeneration.

Moderate consumption of red wine might play a protective role against age-related macular degeneration, according to a retina specialist. The key ingredient is resveratrol, a substance produced naturally by some plants as a defence against pathogens such as bacteria or fungi. Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes and is contained in red wine in the quantity of 1.98 mg/L to 7.13mg/L, compared to 0.005mg/L to 1.90mg/L in white wine.

‘The mechanism is not fully understood. By activating the SIRT1 and MnSOD enzymes, resveratrol might improve mitochondrial functions and reduce oxidative stress. It also seems to have anti-angiogenic properties,” Paolo Lanzetta, MD, OSN Europe Edition Editorial Board member, said.

Epidemiological studies so far have been conducted with methods that are not completely accurate, he said, but there is some evidence that the incidence of AMD might be reduced in people consuming red wine.

In a large cohort of 3702 adults aged 45 to 74 years, a statistically significant negative association between wine consumption and AMD was found.

Possible Benefits

Experimental studies have also shown that resveratrol  decreases the incidence of skin cancer and oesophageal and colon tumours, reduces the formation of plaque in Alzheimer models, and protect against the progression of inflammatory arthritis and coronary heart disease.

“The regular consumption of red wine might explain the ‘French paradox’, i.e., why the French, in spite of having a diet that is very rich in saturated fats, suffer a much lower incidence of coronary heart disease compared with other population having a similarly fatty diet, “ Dr. Lanzetta said.

“There is a great deal of attention focused on resveratrol and its natural source, red wine. We need further studies conducted in areas of production and regular consumption of red wine,” he said.

Dr Lanzetta is head of ophthalmology at the University of School of medicine of Udine, situated in a territory of Italy where famous high quality red wines, such as refosco and cabernet franc, are produced.

Dr Moshegov from Perfect Vision says “On moderate red wine consumption may protect vision, it has long been suggested that drinking red wine in moderation protects people from heart attacks and early death. This study suggests that there may also be a benefit form red wine in preventing macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration is very common in our society and one of the leading causes of legal blindness in the Western World. Perhaps a glass or two of red wine a day will help reduce its impact on the vision of patients over the age of 65 years.”