Data Presented Shows AREDS Vitamins Don’t Slow Geographic Atrophy in AMD | AAO 2025

Vitamin supplements that have been long believed to slow the progression of geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced “dry” form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), may not actually provide any benefit, according to new research presented today at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO) 2025 Annual Meeting in Orlando.

For decades, ophthalmologists have recommended age-related eye disease study (AREDS) vitamins to patients with AMD, noting earlier studies that showed the supplements helped prevent progression to the “wet” form of the disease.

However, those studies—AREDS and AREDS2—found no clear benefit for GA, which gradually destroys retinal tissue and causes irreversible blind spots.

The original AREDS trial, launched in 1992, followed nearly 4,800 participants for five years to test whether a specific combination of vitamins and minerals could slow AMD or cataract progression.

Researchers of the National Eye Institute found that the supplement—now known as the AREDS formula, containing vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, zinc and copper—reduced the risk of progression from mild to advanced AMD by about 25% and lowered the risk of central vision loss by 19%. However, it had no effect on cataracts or preventing AMD onset.

In 2006, AREDS2 was conducted to improve the formula and address safety concerns, especially for smokers, since beta-carotene increased lung cancer risk.

The updated AREDS2 formula replaced beta-carotene with lutein and zeaxanthin and tested the addition of omega-3 fatty acids. While omega-3s provided no added benefit, participants taking lutein and zeaxanthin instead of beta-carotene showed slightly better outcomes.

In each of these studies, it was confirmed that AREDS-based supplements can slow AMD progression in those already at risk but can’t prevent the disease or stop GA.

However, a recent reanalysis of the AREDS data had suggested that AREDS vitamins could slow GA’s advance toward the fovea, the area responsible for sharp central vision.

In this new study led by Rishi P. Singh, M.D., incoming chair of Ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and Mass General Brigham, that claim was debunked using advanced imaging technologies that provide more accurate measurements of retinal damage, according to a press release shared today by the AAO.

Based on data from over 1,200 untreated eyes from the OAKS and DERBY trials—both used to test the FDA-approved GA drug pegcetacoplan that is sold under Empaveli, Aspaveli and Syfovre—the researchers found no significant effect of AREDS or AREDS2 supplements on either overall GA growth or progression toward the fovea.

Singh shared in the release that the team was “quite surprised” by the results. However, they suspect earlier findings may have been influenced by older imaging methods, such as color fundus photography, which are far less precise than traditional techniques, including fundus autofluorescence and optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Another analysis using data from two other clinical trials, CHROMA and SPECTRI, reached the same conclusion.

The results come at a time when new FDA-approved treatments—pegcetacoplan and avacincaptad pegol (Izervay)—have shown significant success in slowing GA progression. These drugs, administered through eye injections, represent the first proven therapies for a condition that affects more than five million people worldwide.

In addition, Singh advised patients to be cautious about relying on over-the-counter supplements for GA.

“Until there’s more data like from a prospective randomized clinical study, we don’t know if antioxidants and macular pigments like lutein have beneficial effects on geographic atrophy,” he said in the release, encouraging patients to talk to their doctors about the new treatment options now available.