Re: Awh et al.: Treatment response to antioxidants and zinc based on and genetic risk allele number in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (Ophthalmology 2015;122:162–9)

There has been intriguing and protracted controversy over what conclusions and treatment recommendations can be drawn from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) experiment. Based on data from this one experiment, the AREDS study group and Awh et al have come away with very different conclusions.1–3 On the one hand, the AREDS Study group recommends that the AREDS formulation is beneficial to individuals with intermediate macular degeneration.2,4 On the other hand, based on genetic subanalysis of the AREDS data, Awh et al suggest that, for patients with certain combinations of CFH (rs412852 and rs3766405) and ARMS2 (c.372_815del443ins54) risk alleles, the AREDS formulation may actually worsen outcomes.