Vision Sciences Laboratory; Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program; Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Institute of Gerontology; Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Nutr Neurosci. 2023 Aug;26(8):720-726. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2022.2084125. Epub 2022 Jun 11.
The mortality-morbidity paradox refers to the inconsistency in survival and disease between males and females: females live longer but tend to suffer greater age-related disease and disability. Many aspects of the latter can be targeted by lifestyle interventions, such as changes in dietary behavior. The relevant literature is reviewed. Dietary intake of the pigmented carotenoids appears to be particularly important for issues such as visual and cognitive loss. This may be due to the highly selective presence of a fraction of carotenoids, namely lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z), in specific tissues of the eye and brain. At those sites, L and Z have been shown to directly improve function and prevent central nervous system degeneration. On the palliative side, retinal LZ reduce glare disability, discomfort and photostress, improve chromatic contrast and visual range (e.g., the ability to see through blue atmospheric haze). These effects on input reflect changes in neural output such as improved visual processing speed, problem solving, memory and executive function (presumably due, also, to local effects in areas such as the hippocampus and frontal cortex). These effects on function throughout the central nervous system are mirrored by effects on disease progression. As potent antioxidants/anti-inflammatory agents, and "blue-blockers" within the retina, the pigments prevent loss that precedes neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and some forms of dementia.
女性寿命更长，但往往患有更多与年龄相关的疾病和残疾。后者的许多方面都可以通过生活方式干预来靶向，例如改变饮食行为。综述了相关文献。摄入有色类胡萝卜素似乎对视力和认知丧失等问题尤为重要。这可能是由于类胡萝卜素的一部分，即叶黄素（L）和玉米黄质（Z），在眼睛和大脑的特定组织中具有高度选择性。在这些部位，L 和 Z 已被证明可以直接改善功能并预防中枢神经系统退化。在姑息治疗方面，视网膜 LZ 减少眩光障碍、不适和光压力，改善色觉对比度和视觉范围（例如，通过蓝色大气阴霾看到的能力）。这些对输入的影响反映了神经输出的变化，例如视觉处理速度、解决问题、记忆和执行功能的提高（也可能是由于海马体和额叶皮层等区域的局部影响）。中枢神经系统中这些功能的变化反映在疾病进展上。作为有效的抗氧化剂/抗炎剂，以及视网膜内的“蓝光阻断剂”，这些色素可以预防退行性疾病（如年龄相关性黄斑变性和某些形式的痴呆症）之前的损失。
