Unscrambled Vision
Who would've thought an egg a day might keep blindness at bay? A study underway by researchers in the Center for Health and Disease Research in the School of Health and Environment indicates it might be so.
“Certain things happen with eggs,” says Margaret Martin, associate director at the Center. And “certain things” certainly happened when 47 area nursing home residents began eating an egg a day for five weeks. Their levels of two important anti-oxidants increased significantly. These antioxidants – lutein and zeaxanthin – help prevent macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness. Subjects’ levels of lutein increased 20 percent, and zeaxanthin, 41 percent. To ensure that the participants’ cholesterol levels did not also increase, their blood was checked twice a month. Those levels rose one percent.
“I really think that this will make a difference in people’s lives,” says Prof. Robert Nicolosi, who is heading the research project. He says that a leading Nashua ophthalmologist “thinks our interventions are as good as any drug he’s seen – and the interventions we’re talking about are things people eat.”
Assoc. Prof. Susan Houde of Nursing is working with Nicolosi on the $230,000 study, with assistance from the Center’s Martin, Asst. Prof. Thomas Wilson, and Program Manager Maureen Faul. It is funded by the Egg Nutrition Board of the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA).
The first phase of the research involves subjects who are not taking cholesterol-lowering medication. Residents from four area nursing homes – D’Youville Senior Care Center in Lowell, the Life Care Center in Billerica, Sunny Acres in Chelmsford and the Blaire House in Tewksbury – have participated, as well as members of the Chelmsford and Billerica Senior Centers. Another partner, Aramark Corp., has contributed supplies for the project.
The next research phase will study those who do take cholesterol-lowering medications, and examine how more than one-egg-a-day egg consumption will affect their antioxidant and blood cholesterol levels. Researchers have reached out to the UMass Lowell community seeking participants for the study.
“Certain things happen with eggs,” says Margaret Martin, associate director at the Center. And “certain things” certainly happened when 47 area nursing home residents began eating an egg a day for five weeks. Their levels of two important anti-oxidants increased significantly. These antioxidants – lutein and zeaxanthin – help prevent macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness. Subjects’ levels of lutein increased 20 percent, and zeaxanthin, 41 percent. To ensure that the participants’ cholesterol levels did not also increase, their blood was checked twice a month. Those levels rose one percent.
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Assoc. Prof. Susan Houde of Nursing is working with Nicolosi on the $230,000 study, with assistance from the Center’s Martin, Asst. Prof. Thomas Wilson, and Program Manager Maureen Faul. It is funded by the Egg Nutrition Board of the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA).
The first phase of the research involves subjects who are not taking cholesterol-lowering medication. Residents from four area nursing homes – D’Youville Senior Care Center in Lowell, the Life Care Center in Billerica, Sunny Acres in Chelmsford and the Blaire House in Tewksbury – have participated, as well as members of the Chelmsford and Billerica Senior Centers. Another partner, Aramark Corp., has contributed supplies for the project.
The next research phase will study those who do take cholesterol-lowering medications, and examine how more than one-egg-a-day egg consumption will affect their antioxidant and blood cholesterol levels. Researchers have reached out to the UMass Lowell community seeking participants for the study.
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