title: Long-term intake of vitamins and carotenoids and odds of early age-related cortical and posterior subcapsular lens opacities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Proper nutrition appears to protect against cataracts. Few studies have related nutrition to the odds of developing cortical or posterior subcapsular (PSC) cataracts.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We assessed the relation between usual nutrient intakes and age-related cortical and PSC lens opacities.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 492 nondiabetic women aged 53-73 y from the Nurses' Health Study cohort who were without previously diagnosed cataracts. Usual nutrient intake was calculated as the average intake from 5 food-frequency questionnaires collected over a 13-15-y period before the eye examination. Duration of vitamin supplement use was determined from 7 questionnaires collected during this same period. We defined cortical opacities as grade > or = 0.5 and subcapsular opacities as grade > or =0.3 of the Lens Opacities Classification System III.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Some lenses had more than one opacity. No nutrient measure was related to prevalence of opacities in the full sample, but significant interactions were seen between age and vitamin C intake (P = 0.02) for odds of cortical opacities and between smoking status and folate (P = 0.02), alpha-carotene (P = 0.02), beta-carotene (P = 0.005), and total carotenoids (P = 0.02) for odds of PSC opacities. For women aged <60 y, a vitamin C intake > or = 362 mg/d was associated with a 57% lower odds ratio (0.43; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.93) of developing a cortical cataract than was an intake <140 mg/d, and use of vitamin C supplements for > or = 10 y was associated with a 60% lower odds ratio (0.40; 0.18, 0.87) than was no vitamin C supplement use. Prevalence of PSC opacities was related to total carotenoid intake in women who never smoked (P = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support a role for vitamin C in diminishing the risk of cortical cataracts in women aged <60 y and for carotenoids in diminishing the risk of PSC cataracts in women who have never smoked.
authors.affiliation: Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA. ataylor@hnrc.tufs.edu
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: Leo T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Chylack
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hankinson
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Khu
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Friend
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.forename: John K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.forename: Nita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Padhye
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004034:Diet Surveys; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007907:Lens Nucleus, Crystalline / Q000187:drug effects*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D014815:Vitamins; D002338:Carotenoids; D001205:Ascorbic Acid