Here I am again. Back on assignment. Lin gave me a long list of things you have been asking about. Research? I’m game! I wrote enough therapy notes for one day.
The first one I chose was astaxanthin. I frankly had no idea what it is but naturaleyecare.com and Tufts University’s Health and Nutrition Letter enlightened me.
The first thing I learned about astaxanthin is that it is the stuff that turns flamingos pink! How cool is that? Microalgae containing astaxanthin are eaten by shellfish, the shellfish are eaten by the flamingo and -voila! – pink birds.
Now you know how that happens. (We always aim to educate ?). What does astaxanthin have to do with Age-Related Macular Degeneration?
Excellent question. I have to admit. Astaxanthin sounds crazy promising in the naturaleyecare.com article. It is a carotenoid, related to beta carotene. Carotenoids are antioxidants. Those are the things that fight the oxidative stress in our eyes (and other places). It keeps those nasty free radicals from rattling around in our cells like the proverbial loose cannons and doing tons and tons of damage. Astaxanthin is supposed to be a particularly strong antioxidant and to do great things. [Lin/Linda: you can find TONS of websites & webpages that give big claims. Of course, we expect you to do your own research but please watch out for those websites where products and services are being sold. They’re big on claims but short on research of those claims. Remember, a testimonial is NOT scientific evidence.]
If something is so promising there should be lists of research articles as long as my arm. Drug companies should be clamoring to put this stuff in a pill, patent the formula and sell it. Right? Apparently wrong.
I searched clinicaltrials.gov and found one study. This study – Drusen Morphology Changes in Nonexudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration After Oral Antioxidant Supplementation – was started in October 2014. That was four years ago. There were no further entries about the study on clinicaltrials.gov and I could not find an actual journal article. Unless it is only in Spanish and I am missing the citation, I don’t think the research was ever done. It does not appear to be listed in his completed and published research. I think. My Spanish is fairly non-existent.
Obviously, I looked up the researcher. His name is Xavier Valldeperas. He practices and teaches at a university hospital in Badalona, Spain. Researchgate.net says he has 31 research articles published with 165 citations in other people’s work. In other words, he is not a lightweight. Why would he give up promising research? Dunno. Not actually sure he did.
In other words, I am thinking the good doctor looked at some preliminary results and gave it up. I don’t think the data were there. Forgive me for being a killjoy and a spoilsport, but I do not think astaxanthin is a “miracle cure”. Sorry. I know I am a party pooper, but this seems to me to be what happened.
That said, it does not appear astaxanthin is going to hurt you. WebMD lists it as likely safe when consumed in foods and possibly safe when taken as a supplement. There is just no clinical evidence it is going to help with AMD. [In this WebMD article under dosing, it says, “The appropriate dose of astaxanthin depends on several factors such as the user’s age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for astaxanthin. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.”
Bottom line? Caveat emptor. Conduct your own experiment if you wish. Take your astaxanthin but I ask one favor: if you turn pink, would you send us a picture??
Written October 10th, 2018
Lin/Linda: here’s an article shared in the Facebook group “Neuroprotective mechanisms of astaxanthin: a potential therapeutic role in preserving cognitive function in age and neurodegeneration.” However, this is not an article about the safety and effectiveness for macular degeneration. Several other articles were referenced with big claims that astaxanthin can do amazing things for everything from wrinkles to cancer, but they all were on websites where proprietary products were being sold. We don’t consider those to be sufficient evidence for the effectiveness and safety of astaxanthin. Many of these articles that promote products make claims such as “this substance has been shown to help with oxidative stress and since oxidative stress is connected to AMD, then the substance will help AMD.” That’s not scientific evidence.