title: Human cataract risk factors: significance of abstention from, and high consumption of, ethanol (U-curve) and non-significance of smoking.
abstract: Current ethanol consumption and cigarette smoking were quantified by questionnaire in Edinburgh and suburbs, Scotland, UK. Stringently matched cataract-control pairs (n = 990 and 858, respectively) were included. For ethanol, 'light and infrequent' consumption and 'light and frequent' were associated with a significantly lower risk of cataract than were total abstention and 'occasional' consumption; the prevalence of cataract rose with further increases in consumption, suggesting a U-shaped curve. For nuclear cataract, white in particular, there is a significant trend with amount consumed. Smoking was not found to be a risk factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: C I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cuthbert
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Prescott
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013695:Temperance
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol