Internal medicine

Cohort study

Zeaxanthin

Vitamin E

Relative risk

Biology

Prospective cohort study

Lutein

Vitamin

Antioxidant

Carotenoid

Food science

Confidence interval

Biochemistry

Medicine

Archives of Ophthalmology

<h3>Objective</h3> To examine in prospective data the relation between dietary intake of carotenoids and vitamins C and E and the risk of cataract in women. <h3>Design</h3> 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. <h3>Results</h3> 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,<i>P </i> = .04) for lutein/zeaxanthin and 0.86 (95% confidence interval, 0.74-1.00; test for trend,<i>P </i> = .03) for vitamin E from food and supplements. <h3>Conclusion</h3> 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.

Dietary Carotenoids, Vitamins C and E, and Risk of Cataract in Women