Vitamin E and age-related cataract in a randomized trial of women.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether vitamin E supplementation decreases the risk of age-related cataract in women.


METHODS
Randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial.


METHODS
Thirty-nine thousand eight hundred seventy-six apparently healthy female health professionals aged 45 years or older.


METHODS
Participants were assigned randomly to receive either 600 IU natural-source vitamin E on alternate days or placebo and were followed up for presence of cataract for an average of 9.7 years.


METHODS
Age-related cataract 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 and confirmed by medical record review.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference between the vitamin E and placebo groups in the incidence of cataract (1159 vs. 1217 cases; relative risk [RR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88-1.04). In subgroup analyses of subtypes, there were no significant effects of vitamin E on the incidence of nuclear (1056 vs. 1127 cases; RR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.87-1.02), cortical (426 vs. 461 cases; RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.81-1.06), or posterior subcapsular cataract (357 vs. 359 cases; RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.86-1.16). Results were similar for extraction of cataract and subtypes. There was no modification of the lack of effect of vitamin E on cataract by baseline categories of age, cigarette smoking, multivitamin use, or several other possible risk factors for cataract.


CONCLUSIONS
These data from a large trial of apparently healthy female health professionals with 9.7 years of treatment and follow-up indicate that 600 IU natural-source vitamin E taken every other day provides no benefit for age-related cataract or subtypes.
Christen
William G
WG
Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. wchristen@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Glynn
Robert J
RJ
Chew
Emily Y
EY
Buring
Julie E
JE
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016387:Women's Health
D014810:Vitamin E