Multi-Vitamin Use for Men May Decrease Risk of Cataracts

Cataracts typically occur due to age-related changes in of the lens inside the eye. They cloud the lens and cause a decrease in vision, which could affect driving, reading, exposure to lights, etc. The American Academy of Ophthalmology may have found a solution.

The Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School conducted a study involving 15,000 male physicians that underwent a randomized double-blind study from 1997-2011 in order to help see if multivitamin use reduced the risk of eye diseases. The results were published in this month's Ophthalmology.

The male doctors that participated in the study were separated into two groups: one group received a multivitamin along with other vitamin supplements and the other group received a placebo. The researchers followed the physician participants for nearly 15 years to identify which developed cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, two of the most common eye diseases.

In the placebo group, a total of 945 cases of cataract were recorded and were confirmed by medical records whereas 872 cases developed in the multivitamin group, revealing a 9% decrease in risk. These results may not seem groundbreaking, but they are significant because over 10 million adults are affected by cataracts in the United States, and a study conducted for this long is almost guaranteed to produce such real-life results. Even a 9% decrease is helpful when so many are affected.

However, the case against age-related macular degeneration was not statistically significant. The placebo group saw only 23 more cases of AMD than the multivitamin group.

Another study called the Age-Related Eye Disease Study reported that the use of antioxidant vitamins and mineral supplements, including vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc, and copper are only effective for those who have already developed AMD. These supplements (which the participants of the original study were assigned to take) do not play a role in preventing this age-related disease.

Further research on these eye diseases must be conducted before the Academy of Ophthalmology can officially recommend any supplements that would help prevent or halt the development of cataracts. To read more about this study, visit this EurekAlert! article.