Weight status, abdominal adiposity, diabetes, and early age-related lens opacities.

BACKGROUND: The association between weight status and the risk of lens opacities has received little attention. OBJECTIVE: We examined the cross-sectional relations of body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)), waist circumference, and diabetes with the presence of age-related lens opacities. DESIGN: Eye examinations were conducted in 466 Boston-area women aged 53-73 y who were without previously diagnosed cataracts and were part of the Nurses' Health Study cohort. Weight, height, waist, and hip measurements were obtained by self-report. Lens status was evaluated by using the Lens Opacification Classification System III (LOCS III). BMI and waist circumference were used as measures of overweight and abdominal adiposity, respectively. Nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular (PSC) opacities were defined as LOCS III scores > or = 2.5, > or = 1.0, and > or = 0.5, respectively. Diabetes was defined as a history of type 2 diabetes or as a fasting plasma glucose concentration > or = 7.0 mmol/L. RESULTS: Women with diabetes were significantly more likely to have PSC opacities [odds ratio (OR): 4.1; 95% CI: 1.8, 9.4] than were women with fasting plasma glucose concentrations < 6.1 mmol/L. Women with a BMI > or = 30 had a higher prevalence of PSC opacities than did women with a BMI < 25 (OR: 2.5; 1.2, 5.2), and women with a waist circumference > or = 89 cm had a higher prevalence of PSC opacities than did those with a waist circumference < 80 cm (OR: 2.3; 1.0, 5.2). Diabetes and measures of adiposity were unrelated to the prevalence of cortical and nuclear opacities. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes is a strong risk factor for PSC opacities, and overweight and abdominal adiposity may be risk factors for PSC opacities.

Long-term intake of vitamins and carotenoids and odds of early age-related cortical and posterior subcapsular lens opacities.

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. DESIGN: 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.