Dietary carotenoids, vitamins C and E, and risk of cataract in women: a prospective study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine in prospective data the relation between dietary intake of carotenoids and vitamins C and E and the risk of cataract in women.


METHODS
Dietary intake was assessed at baseline in 39,876 female health professionals by using a detailed food frequency questionnaire. A total of 35,551 women provided detailed information on antioxidant nutrient intake from food and supplements and were free of a diagnosis of cataract. The main outcome measure was cataract, defined as an incident, age-related lens opacity responsible for a reduction in best-corrected visual acuity in the worse eye to 20/30 or worse based on self-report confirmed by medical record review.


RESULTS
A total of 2031 cases of incident cataract were confirmed during a mean of 10 years of follow-up. Comparing women in the extreme quintiles, the multivariate relative risk of cataract was 0.82 (95% confidence interval, 0.71-0.95; test for trend, P = .04) for lutein/zeaxanthin and 0.86 (95% confidence interval, 0.74-1.00; test for trend, P = .03) for vitamin E from food and supplements.


CONCLUSIONS
In these prospective observational data from a large cohort of female health professionals, higher dietary intakes of lutein/zeaxanthin and vitamin E from food and supplements were associated with significantly decreased risks of cataract.
Christen
William G
WG
Divisions of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215-1204, USA. wchristen@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Liu
Simin
S
Glynn
Robert J
RJ
Gaziano
J Michael
JM
Buring
Julie E
JE
D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D014975:Lutein / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016387:Women's Health; D024341:Xanthophylls / Q000008:administration & dosage; D065146:Zeaxanthins
D024341:Xanthophylls; D065146:Zeaxanthins; D014810:Vitamin E; D002338:Carotenoids; D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D014975:Lutein