Influence of Dietary Seafood on the Prevention of Ocular Disorders: A Clinical Analysis

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration, retinal dysfunction, dry eye syndromes, cataract formation, and the prevalence of other vision defects are directly related to nutrients in the diet. People consuming seafood are less prone to several vision disorders. The present study was designed to validate the view. In this study, 712 visitors to tertiary eye care for eye check-ups were interviewed using a standard questionnaire, and from them, 264 persons were identified with some ocular defects. The identified cases were further screened based on their dietary habits with seafood. The isolated cases were clinically examined, and the development of ocular defects such as macular edema, optic neuropathy, myopia, double vision, dry eye syndrome, and color blindness was recorded. The results show that the respondents taking one or another type of three fishes regularly have a low impact on visual disorders. Respondents with fish intake above 500 g/week were less affected by all five ocular disabilities tested when compared with occasional users. Among the total respondents, the percentage of visual defects was seen in 62.12% in seafood users, but among the non-seafood users, the presence of visual defects was 89.6%. Statistical analysis using the Pearson population correlation coefficient, ρ (rho), further confirmed the relationship between eye wellness and a seafood diet. The omega-3 fatty acids linked with vision were also high in the fish consumed by the people. This study confirms that a regular seafood diet is good for eye health and can prevent the epidemics of several eye diseases. As fish intake contains a good amount of long-chain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, people who consume fish in their diet are less susceptible to advanced macular degeneration and other vision impairments responsible for age-related blindness.