MDeyes is a new AREDS2 supplement that’s made in Australia and contains the precise ingredients and total daily amounts studied in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) 2 low zinc formula. Delivered in a once daily capsule, MDeyes is available exclusively for re-sale by eye care professionals.
“The original AREDS formula with 80 mg of zinc cannot be registered in Australia due to regulatory restrictions around high dose zinc (the TGA maximum zinc limit for listed medicines is 50 mg per day). While some brands are ‘AREDS2-based’, they tend to contain only half the daily dose studied in AREDS2 and are registered and labelled as ‘one a day’,” said Phasem Health Director, Philip Spork
“The fact that AREDS2 results reported in JAMA stated ‘there was no apparent effect of beta carotene elimination or lower-dose zinc on progression’ is particularly important in the Australian context. We’ve been careful to formulate MDeyes following the AREDS2 results and we feature the same ingredients FloraGLO Lutein and Optisharp Zeaxanthin used in the AREDS2 trials,” said Mr Spork.
He said support for AREDS2 supplements with reduced zinc dosage was voiced by many leading experts in the UK following the JAMA report last year. In Optician Online (May 2013), City University’s Professor John Lawrenson (co-author of the 2012 Cochrane review ‘Antioxidant vitamin & mineral supplements for slowing the progression of AMD’) and others advocated revising the AREDS formula by lowering zinc in addition to replacing β-carotene with Lutein + Zeaxanthin.
Design registration is pending on MDeyes’ packaging, which includes blister foils printed with the days of the week, and a grid printed on the back of each pack.
Contact: MD Eyes on www.mdeyes.com.au
