Recent evidence has shown that a specific combo of vitamins and minerals may slow the progression of disease in people with the later stages of dry age-related macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common eye disease — often seen in people 50 or older — that leads to vision loss due to damage to the macula, the central part of the eye responsible for visual clarity. The disease affects about 20 million people in the U.S. and nearly 200 million people worldwide. And by 2040, the disease may affect nearly 300 million people worldwide as the average life expectancy continues to rise and diagnostic methods improve.

Two forms exist: “dry” and “wet.” Late stage dry age-related macular degeneration, also known as geographic atrophy, leads to a gradual loss of the retinal pigment epithelium, a single layer of cells in the eye essential for health and function of the eye. It is a progressive and irreversible condition that can cause a dark or dim area in the center of your vision, surrounding blind spots, and potentially complete loss of central vision.

The other late-stage form of AMD is wet AMD. With wet AMD, abnormal blood vessels grow behind the macula, the small, rounded area at the back of the eye responsible for central vision, color vision, and fine detail. These vessels can leak blood and other fluids, scarring the macula and causing a rapid deterioration of central vision.

However, dry age-related macular degeneration is the much more common form, accounting for around 85%-90% of cases. Though it’s less severe than wet AMD, it can cause substantial vision loss in advanced stages. The supplement in question, called AREDS 2, is composed of antioxidant vitamins and minerals, namely vitamins C and E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc, and copper. This formula can be bought over the counter mixed together in ready-made tablets.

The new study, spearheaded by Tiarnan Keenan, MD, PhD, staff clinician in retinal disease at the National Eye Institute, was published in the journal Ophthalmology. The study reinvestigated the original retinal scans of participants who developed dry AMD in earlier studies.

“The purpose of those original trials wasn’t really to study geographic atrophy or expansion rates. They did take all these retinal images, which meant we were able to study geographic atrophy expansion,” Keenan said. This has profound implications for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration going forward and may inform future clinical trials, he said.

Keenan and other authors of the new study reviewed data from the original studies and found that, of those who hadn’t yet had their central vision overcome by geographic atrophy, the supplement slowed the rate of expansion by about 55% over an average of 3 years.