Título

POTENTIAL PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF GUARANA (PAULLINIA CUPANA) IN THE OCULAR HEALTH OF RIPARIAN ELDERLY PEOPLE LIVING IN BRAZILIAN AMAZON

Introdução / Purpose

Ageing is a natural process, causing several dysfunctions and increasing the susceptibility to non-transmissible diseases. In general, eye aging is a condition that causes some effects such as: reduced diffusion of water from the outside to the inside of lenses, crystalline changes due to the accumulation of high molecular weight aggregates and insoluble proteins, production of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), and the accumulation of lipids and other waste molecules, afford to the development of eye disorders. Nevertheless, some studies suggest that some foods could improve visual quality of elderly people and even prevent the development of eye diseases. Thus, this study investigated whether the consumption of guaraná (Paullinia cupana), could influence the visual condition of riparian elderly living in Maués/AM, Brazil.

Material e Método / Methods

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee (Process number: 807/04). All participants signed the compromise agreement. The visual quality and the consumption of guaraná by the elderly riparian were evaluated through self-reported. Participants responded if their visual condition was poor, fair or good and if the ingestion of guaraná was habitual, sporadic or never consumed. Statistical analysis was carried out with the SPSS program, version 19.0. The results with p ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Resultados / Results

A total of 630 subjects were included in the study, a mean age of 72.3 ± 8.0 years old. Over half of the elderly self-reported poor vision (n = 320, 50.8%), 234 (37.1%) self-reported regular vision, whereas just 76 (12.1%) self-reported good vision. Subjects that self-reported good vision presented a higher frequency of habitual guaraná consumption (GI) than subjects that self-reported

Discussão e Conclusões / Discussion

This investigation provides new perspectives related to the use of guaraná as a protective supplement against eye diseases. Furthermore, guaraná could have potential nutritional applications for the treatment of eye disorders such as AMD.

Palavras Chave

Eye diseases. Guaraná. Elderly people.