Articles about Eye Health and Disease from 2000 and earlier:
 

Supplemental Vitamin Use May Reduce the Risk of Cataract

(From Mares-Perlman JA, PhD et al. Vitamin Supplement Use and Incident Cataracts in a Population Based Study. Arch Ophthalmol. 11/2000;118:1556-1563.)

Cataract is the clouding of the natural lens of the eye, which can lead to blurred vision, glare related visual side effects, and changes in one's glasses prescription. In cases where the symptoms cannot be treated optically, cataract extraction with lens implant may be required (for more information, see Cataract. The exact causes of cataract are not well understood, and known contributing risk factors include tobacco use, family history, steroid use, diabetes, and trauma. The study cited above examined the possibility that supplemental vitamin use may help to retard the risk for cataract progression.

Data was collected from the Beaver Dam Eye Study, which is an ongoing study of the entire population of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin aged 43-86 (about 3684 individuals). A comparison was made in eye examinations and lens photographs taken at the baseline examination, and the at a follow-up examination 5 years later.

It was found that compared with non-users of vitamin supplements, the 5 year risk of any cataract was 60% lower among persons who, at follow-up, reported the use of multivitamins or supplements containing vitamin C or E for at least 10 years. Cortical and nuclear cataracts were reduced in risk, but not posterior subcapsular cataracts. (Nuclear cataracts are a gradual clouding and yellowing of the center of the lens. Cortical cataracts are more like a film covering the front of the lens, leading to glare problems. A posterior subcapsular cataract is a crust-like cataract covering the back of the lens, and tends to progress rapidly with rapid visual loss.) Shorter usage of supplements was not associated with a reduced risk.

While the authors of the study admit that the exact nutrients that reduce the risk of cataract cannot be determined precisely in this study, it appears that long term supplements may reduce cataract risk.

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