Within the framework of The Age-Related Eye Disease Study, a multicenter, double-blind clinical trial, the registered participants were randomly divided into groups that received:.

1) antioxidants (vitamin C 500 mg, vitamin E 400 IU, beta-carotene 15 mg); 2) zinc 80 mg, like zinc oxide and copper 2 mg, like copper oxide; 3) antioxidants plus zinc or 4) - placebo.

A survey of 3,640 registered participants aged 55-80 years lasted 6.3 years.

Compared to the placebo group, there was a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of age-related cataracts in the antioxidant-plus-zinc group (relative risk = 0.72) compared with the placebo group.

The relative risk for those taking zinc and only the antioxidants was 0.75 and 0.80, respectively. There was a statistically significant decrease in visual acuity loss in people who received antioxidants plus zinc (relative risk = 0.73).

Medicus. En.

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