Vitamin C and carotenoids reduce cataract risk in women

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Vitamin C and carotenoids reduce cataract risk in women

Last Updated: 2002-02-22 11:29:44 EST (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Vitamin C appears to decrease the risk of

cortical cataracts in women under 60 years of age. Additionally,

carotenoids reduce the risk of posterior subcapsular cataracts in women

who have never smoked, researchers report in the March issue of The

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Dr. , from Tufts University, Boston, and colleagues

collected data on 492 nondiabetic women 53 to 73 years of age, without

previously diagnosed cataracts, who participated in the Nurses' Health

Study. Among the 984 eyes examined, 34.1% had cortical opacities and

12.9% had posterior subcapsular cataract opacities.

Women under 60 years of age with daily vitamin C intakes of 362 mg or

more had a 57% lower odds ratio of developing cortical cataracts

compared with women with daily vitamin C intakes of less than 140 mg,

the researchers found.

Women who took vitamin C supplements for 10 years or more reduced their

risk for developing cortical cataracts by 60%, compared with women who

did not take vitamin C supplements, Dr. 's team notes.

In women who had never smoked, the prevalence of posterior subcapsular

cataracts was related with total carotenoid intake (p = 0.02).

Specifically, " the incidence of posterior subcapsulary cataracts was

considerably lower in women who had never smoked and who had high

intakes of folate and carotenoids, " the researchers comment in a press

release.

Dr. and colleagues conclude that " these data add more weight to

the accumulating evidence that antioxidant nutrients can be exploited to

alter the rates of development of these major (but less studied) forms

of age-related opacities and provide indirect evidence that smoking

attenuates the putative benefits of antioxidants. "

Am J Clin Nutr 2002;75:540-549.