Fruit and vegetables and cataract

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Hi All,

Does our eating fruit and vegetables affect our risk of age-related cataracts?

Yes,

may be the answer. They improve our odds, but significantly only in

combination.

See the not yet in Medline pdf-available below. " Extraction was defined as the

surgical removal of an incident cataract. "

G Christen, Simin Liu, Debra A Schaumberg, and E Buring

Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cataract in women

Am J Clin Nutr 2005 81: 1417-1422.

.... DESIGN:: Fruit and vegetable intake was assessed at baseline in 1993 among

39

876 female health professionals with the use of a validated, semiquantitative

food-frequency questionnaire. A total of 35 724 of these women were free of a

diagnosis of cataract at baseline and were followed for incident cataract and

cataract extraction. Cataract was defined as an incident, age-related lens

opacity

responsible for a reduction in best-corrected visual acuity to 20/30 or worse,

based

on self-report confirmed by medical record review. Individuals, rather than

eyes,

were the unit of analysis.

RESULTS:: During an average of 10 y of follow-up, 2067 cataracts and 1315

cataract

extractions were confirmed. Compared with women in the lowest quintile of fruit

and

vegetable intake, women with higher intakes had modest 10–15% reduced risks of

cataract (P for trend < 0.05). For cataract extraction, no significant inverse

trend

was observed (P for trend = 0.12).

CONCLUSION:: These prospective data suggest that high intake of fruit and

vegetables

may have a modest protective effect on cataract.

.... TABLE 2 Relative risk (and 95% CI) of cataract according to quintiles of

fruit

and vegetable intake in the Women's Health Study

-------------------------------

----Quintile of intake----P for trend

----11 2 3 4 5----

------------------------------

All fruit and vegetables

Median intake (servings/d) 2.6 4.1 5.4 7.0 10.0

Cases of cataract 360 374 414 447 472

n 7145 7145 7145 7145 7144

Age- and treatment-adjusted risk 1.00 0.94 (0.81, 1.08) 0.90 (0.79, 1.04)

0.91

(0.79, 1.04) 0.88 (0.77, 1.01) 0.10

Multivariate-adjusted risk2 1.00 0.93 (0.80, 1.09) 0.89 (0.76, 1.04) 0.87

(0.74,

1.03) 0.83 (0.70, 0.99) 0.048

All fruit

Median intake (servings/d) 0.6 1.3 1.9 2.6 3.8

Cases of cataract 341 359 419 459 489

n 7165 7131 7156 7128 7144

Age- and treatment-adjusted risk 1.00 0.91 (0.79, 1.06) 0.95 (0.82, 1.10)

0.92

(0.80, 1.06) 0.87 (0.75, 1.00) 0.07

Multivariate-adjusted risk2 1.00 0.95 (0.80, 1.11) 1.00 (0.85, 1.18) 0.97

(0.83,

1.14) 0.89 (0.75, 1.06) 0.19

All vegetables

Median intake (servings/d) 1.5 2.5 3.4 4.5 6.8

Cases of cataract 384 375 427 428 453

n 7150 7145 7142 7150 7137

Age- and treatment-adjusted risk 1.00 0.93 (0.81, 1.07) 0.95 (0.83, 1.09)

0.93

(0.81, 1.07) 0.91 (0.80, 1.05) 0.28

Multivariate-adjusted risk2 1.00 0.94 (0.81, 1.10) 0.96 (0.83, 1.12) 0.94

(0.80,

1.10) 0.88 (0.74, 1.04) 0.15

------------------------------------------

1 Referent category.

2 Adjusted for age, randomized treatment assignment, smoking, alcohol use,

history

of diabetes, history of hypertension, history of hypercholesterolemia, BMI,

physical

activity, parental history of myocardial infarction, menopausal status,

postmenopausal hormone use, use of multivitamins or vitamin C supplements, total

energy intake, and history of an eye exam in the past 2 y in proportional

hazards regression models.

.... TABLE 3 Relative risk (and 95% CI) of cataract extraction according to

quintiles

of fruit and vegetable intake in the Women's Health Study

--------------------------

-------Quintile of intake P for trend

-----------------------------

----11 2 3 4 5

-----------------------------

All fruit and vegetables

Median intake (servings/d) 2.6 4.1 5.4 7.0 10.0

Cases of cataract extraction 221 238 272 290 294

n 7145 7145 7145 7145 7144

Age- and treatment-adjusted risk 1.00 0.97 (0.81, 1.17) 0.97 (0.81, 1.16)

0.95

(0.80, 1.14) 0.88 (0.74, 1.05) 0.14

Multivariate-adjusted risk2 1.00 1.00 (0.82, 1.22) 0.98 (0.81, 1.20) 0.94

(0.77,

1.15) 0.86 (0.69, 1.08) 0.12

All fruit

Median intake (servings/d) 0.6 1.3 1.9 2.6 3.8

Cases of cataract extraction 214 222 275 295 309

n 7165 7131 7156 7128 7144

Age- and treatment-adjusted risk 1.00 0.90 (0.75, 1.09) 0.99 (0.83, 1.18)

0.94

(0.78, 1.12) 0.86 (0.72, 1.03) 0.12

Multivariate-adjusted risk2 1.00 0.94 (0.77, 1.16) 1.07 (0.88, 1.31) 0.98

(0.80,

1.20) 0.90 (0.73, 1.12) 0.33

All vegetables

Median intake (servings/d) 1.5 2.5 3.4 4.5 6.8

Cases of cataract extraction 234 228 292 282 279

n 7150 7145 7142 7150 7137

Age- and treatment-adjusted risk 1.00 0.93 (0.77, 1.11) 1.06 (0.90, 1.26)

1.00

(0.84, 1.20) 0.92 (0.77, 1.09) 0.42

Multivariate-adjusted risk2 1.00 0.98 (0.80, 1.20) 1.14 (0.95, 1.38) 1.04

(0.86,

1.27) 0.91 (0.73, 1.13) 0.31

---------------------------------------

1 Referent category.

2 Adjusted for age, randomized treatment assignment, smoking, alcohol use,

history

of diabetes, history of hypertension, history of hypercholesterolemia, BMI,

physical

activity, parental history of myocardial infarction, menopausal status,

postmenopausal hormone use, use of multivitamins or vitamin C supplements, total

energy intake, and history of an eye exam in the past 2 y in proportional

hazards regression models.

Al Pater, PhD; email: old542000@...

__________________________________

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