The wait-and-see mentality contributing to the population’s vision problems puts retailers in a position to guide them to better ocular health.

Bobbi Elliott, owner of Healthy By Nature, Inc., a single independently owned health food store in Leesburg, VA, has observed that vision health isn’t a top priority for many of her customers.

“It is human nature to wait for a crisis instead of being proactive about one’s health, so the majority of our customers buying vision supplements are middle aged or seniors. Most of our younger customers don’t think about vision health unless they have someone in their family with a vision condition,” she said.

While consumers aren’t overwhelmingly proactive about their eye health, Nutrition Business Journal reported that sales of vision supplements in the U.S. reached $370 million in 2010, a six percent increase over the previous year, with lutein, multivitamins and fish oil ranking the most popular eye-related products.

This could be in response to the fact that approximately 14 million Americans struggle with vision impairment, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) National Eye Institute (NEI). The Prevalence of blindness and sight problems, of course, increases with age: In people over 40, the most common diseases include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, and the NEI reported 7.6 percent of adults over age 40 have either advanced or intermediate AMD.

“The number of people with vision issues increases with age and the proportion of the U.S. population over the age of 60 is definitely on the rise,” said Kenneth Jones, primary researcher with California-based Savesta LifeSciences Inc. and member of the American Botanical Council’s (ABC) advisory board. “In the case of vision loss, rates are predicted to double in the next 18 years as the population of the aged in the U.S. also doubles.”

But Deborah Jacobs, vice president of Diamond Herpanacine of PA based in Pennsylvania, noted that it’s no longer just the older population that should be concerned with their eye health.“Another factor is eyestrain due to computer usage and other electronics. This is a huge concern, causing eye problems at a much younger age,” she said, Adding that toxins and harmful pollutants are also on the rise in our environment, causing illnesses and damaging eye health.

Rounding out causes of increased eye concerns are nutrient deficiencies, according to Jolie Root, LPN, LNC, nutritionist and educator with Illinoisbased Carlson Laboratories. “Low levels of protective antioxidants in the Western diet and low levels of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which governs and supports visual acuity, are all evident in today’s lifestyles.”

To that end, category growth is eminent, offered Brian Hatcher, sales manager with Georgia-based Vita Logic.“With the focus going from basic antioxidant protection to very specific nutrients like astaxanthin and zeaxanthin, the sales in this category are headed in a positive direction and I don’t see that trend changing in the near future,” he said.

Assistance for the Aging

Diamond Eye Health by Dr. Wayne Diamond addresses the issues of Baby Boomers and seniors in numerous ways, according to Jacobs. “It helps with night glare and vision, which are issues for millions suffering with this Sort of diminished eye health, as well as cataracts and macular degeneration,” she said.
“Diamond Eye works to impact these conditions positively on a lifechanging basis.”

Jacobs noted that Dr. Diamond used groundbreaking independent clinical trials including AREDS, a 10-year Age Related Eye Disease Study performed by NIH; The Veteran’s LAST (Lutein Antioxidants Supplementation Trial) Study and other important trials proving there is an important step that can be taken to help support eye health.

“During years of research, Dr. Diamond was able to pinpoint the exact formulation to offer optimal benefits to patients suffering from degenerative eye diseases,” she said, adding that once perfected, Diamond Eye Health included eye nutrients such as FloraGLO Lutein, OPTISHARP Zeaxanthin, bilberry fruit extract (20 percent anthonyenine), butcher’s broom extract, eyebright, citrus bioflavinoids, CoQ10 and other essential natural ingredients to help achieve, support and maintain good eye health while battling these diseases. “The important ingredients in this powerful formulation are all key to the formulation because they work together synergistically, to support the different aspects of eye disease.”

For consumers wrestling with or concerned about retinopathy, a new study showed that the antioxidant Pycnogenol® pine bark extract could prove extraordinarily effective, according to Frank Schonlau, scientific director for Horphag Research in New Jersey.

“Pycnogenol pine bark extract represents the only thoroughly researched active ingredient that protects the delicate capillaries in eyes from age-related damage. This disorder, known as retinopathy, causes capillaries to turn brittle and makes them leak fluid at the onset. At the later stage, blood flows into the retina, which may cause irreversible vision loss,” Schonlau explained, adding that this is typically an age-related phenomenon, and is less commonly known than macula degeneration, glaucoma or cataracts.

However, retinopathy is common in hypertensive, obese and especially diabetic individuals.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study was recently conducted with people with very early stage retinopathy characterized by capillaries leaking fluid, which is trapped in the retina and makes it swell. Because of the pressure build-up, less oxygen and nutrients reach the retina, which causes eyesight to deteriorate. “In this study, the results of which were published in the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the lead researcher Dr. Robert Steigerwalt was able to demonstrate that timely supplementation with Pycnogenol could strengthen the fragile capillaries in the retina and the retinal edema was relieved,” said Schonlau, noting the most exciting outcome was that Pycnogenol supplementation was found to restore vision as judged by an ability to read a Snellen chart, an eye chart used by eye care professionals.

Younger Concerns

Eye fatigue is one condition an increasing portion of the population faces.
Caused by lengthy or intensive visual tasks, when strained by fatigue, focal acuity and the ability of the eyes to change focus are noticeably compromised, explained Savesta’s Jones. “For those who work at computer monitors, 64 to 90 percent experience some form of visual symptom, including eyestrain and ocular discomfort,” he said, noting that the symptoms have become so widespread that a new term was coined for the collective vision and eye problems associated with computer use: computer vision syndrome, or CVS.

“Never before have we had so many people within the population that stare at some sort of electronic screen for extended periods of time,” added Vita Logic’s Hatcher. “This starts at an early age with preschoolers learning on computers to preteens staring at video game screens and smart phones.”

Carlson’s Root concurred that technology’s impact has been bringing younger people into the vision category, “since working at a computer monitor, gaming or participating in social network interaction has people in front of their monitors for longer periods,” She said. “In addition, when people are looking at the computer screen they do not blink often enough and that leads to dry eyes and irritation,” she said.

Carlson’s Moistureyes, which was formulated by opthalmologist Dr. Robert Abel Jr., supports healthy “tear film,” which keeps eyes moist and lubricated.
“This revolutionary nutritional supplement promotes eye moisture from within,” said Root. “Each soft gelatin capsule provides essential fatty acids EPA, DHA, and GLA as well as the ACE antioxidants.”

Savesta’s Jones noted that “after conducting informal surveys of students and teachers at university campuses in North American, it became clear that a dietary supplement for the support of visual performance and fatigued eyes would be welcomed across several generations.”

While Savesta’s products have been on the market for 10 years (although under different names), SeeWell™ is its first entry into the vision market and is expected to launch in July. Jones explained that the product is distinguished from some other products in the category by supplying clinically verified dosages of key ingredients in standardized extracts. For example, SeeWell offers consumers the same astaxanthin (AstaREAL®) dosage of 6 mg/day repeatedly shown to support healthy visual function in human clinical trials, explained Jones.“With smaller amounts of key ingredients, there is no guarantee they would be effective, let alone provide the optimum benefits that hard-working eyes so deserve.”

In addition to offering a branded astaxanthin and delivering key nutrients, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, SeeWell also delivers other ingredients known and used in ancient traditions:

• Triphala is an ancient ayurvedic formula traditionally used to support vision, and in Tibetan medicine to promote eyesight.

• Goji berry (Lycium barbarum) has Been regarded traditionally in China for centuries for its support of vision due to its polysaccharide content. The goji berry extract in SeeWell is standardized to contain a high polysaccharide content (approximately 1 mg/kg of body weight for the average U.S. adult).

• Blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum) and their deep purple-black color of is due to their high anthocyanin content; a concentration higher than that of blueberries or blackberries.

Vision Health as a Complement

While most of Healthy By Nature’s customers aren’t buying vision-specific supplements to get their eye nutrients, the vision health section does serve a distinct purpose and is seeing more action.

“Most of our customers get their nutrients for their eyes in their multivitamins/ multi-minerals; however, if they have specific problems, they purchase additional supplements for vision containing lutein or herbs that contain lutein,” said Elliott, noting that local optometrists have been sending customers in for vision supplements. “Our vision health section isn’t the most popular section, but once a customer starts taking a supplement and they see an improvement, they continue taking it, so our sales are increasing at a steady rate.”

According to Vita Logic’s Hatcher, his company’s Eye Formula was formulated specifically with consumers taking a daily multivitamin/mineral in mind, therefore eliminating redundancy or overlap.

“Vitamins A, C and E are fundamental antioxidant vitamins revered for degenerative macular, cataract or night blindness prevention, while bilberry is included as an antioxidant staple for vision and vascular support alongside alpha lipoic acid. Eye Formula also delivers astaxanthin and zeaxanthin alongside lutein to advance the nervous system antioxidant protection to the retina,” he said. “While some popular brands focus on some of these key ingredients, many go in one of two directions—diluting some of these key ingredients with other nutrients already employed by the daily multivitamin/mineral, or simply eliminating to focus on only a couple antioxidants. Vita Logic is proud to offer a comprehensive product to use alongside one’s daily multivitamin/mineral for advanced eye protection.”

Vita Logic’s Eye Formula is a top seller for Andy Feinberg, owner and Operator of Total Nutrition in Clearwater, FL. Although he noted that, similar to Healthy By Nature, the majority of his customers aren’t proactive about their eye health, it is something he’s seen work for those who are.

“The large majority of my vision supplement consumers are late middle age to elderly, and usually because they’re experiencing an eye issue,” said Feinberg, adding that it’s often hard to determine the effectiveness of eye products, “because once someone has an issue like macular degeneration or glaucoma, I believe it is difficult to reverse.” Yet he has seen situations where large doses of zeazanthin with lutein have helped his customers.

But like most in the natural products industry, Feinberg recommends a preventative approach: “I think it’s much better to live a healthy lifestyle void of processed foods, or focusing on truly organic foods with a supplement regimen, especially if there is a family history of eye problems, than trying to reverse a situation.”

“We should always talk prevention as it applies to lifestyle and vision support as part of the overall solution to eye health,” concurred Hatcher. “No one has a magic bullet when it comes to eye health and being up front about that will certainly allow people to get the best possible results.”