Abstract
Purpose :
Lumega-Z is carotenoid-based nutritional supplement containing lutein, zeaxanthin, meso-zeaxanthin, and other vitamins that has been reported to increase macular pigment optical density and is often used by patients with glaucoma. Physicians often permit the use of supplements if they do not cause harm. This study examines medical IOP control in glaucoma patients on long term Lumega-Z supplementation.
Methods :
In this retrospective observational study from a private practice in South Texas, consent was obtained from all patients who took Lumega-Z for greater than 1 year. Variables examined were IOP (Goldman applanation) and number of antiglaucoma medications. All patients started taking the supplement between March 2015 and September 2018, and were followed up to a maximum of 3 years, or until September 2019. Each variable was noted at the time of supplement initiation, and after 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 18 months, 2 years, and 3 years. At each interval, IOP and number of medications were compared to their respective pre-supplement value using a paired, 2 tailed student’s t-test. With every comparison, only eyes with both pre- and post-Lumega-Z data were included in the analysis.
Results :
68 eyes from 36 patients taking Lumega-Z for at least 1 year were included. Types of glaucoma were POAG, IACG, CACG, and uveitic glaucoma, and severity ranged from mild to severe. Variable data availability lead to n values ranging from n=7 (at 3 years) to n=31 (at 1 year). The average number of pre-supplement medications was 0.89±0.2 and pre-supplement IOP was 12.8±3.6 mmHg. Both metrics showed no significant difference when compared to pre-Lumega-Z measurements for all intervals (p=0.08-0.6, and 0.21-0.99, respectively).
Conclusions :
This study found no relationship between Lumega-Z use and IOP control in glaucoma. This is useful to physicians managing glaucoma patients because it indicates that taking the supplement likely has no effect on glaucoma IOP management.
Attrition is a weakness of this study, but because only eyes with both pre-and post-Lumega-Z data were included in each comparison, systematic bias causing a falsely low IOP/number of medications was curtailed.
In future studies, eyes of patients taking Lumega-Z can be compared with those of a comparable population without the supplement to examine if there is a relative difference in IOP management in patients taking this carotenoid-containing supplement.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.