CATARACTS

AgathaM.Thr
ash,M.D.
Prevent
i
veMedici
ne

Cat
aract
sdevel
opwhendamaget
othepr
otei
noft
hel
ensoft
heey
ecl
oudst
he
l
ensandimpai
rsvi
si
on.

Mos tpeoplewholiv
el ongenoughwilldev
elopcatar
acts.Cat
aract
saremor el
i
k el
y
tooccurinthosewhos moke,havediabet
es,orar
eex posedtoexcess
ivesunl
ight
.
Allofthesefact
orsleadtoox i
dati
vedamage.Ox i
dat
ivedamaget othelensofthe
eyeappear stocausecatar
actsinani
malsandpeople.

I
ti
sunl
i
kel
ythatanynut
ri
ti
onal
suppl
ement
sorher
bscanr
ever
seex
ist
i
ngcat
aract
s.

ChecklistforCat
aract
s
Nutrit
i
onal Suppl
ements&Her
bs
**Vi
tami nB2
**Vi
tami nC
*Beta-carotene
*Carotenoids
*Lutei
n
*Quercetin
*Vit
ami nB3
*Vit
ami nE
*Bil
berry

KEY:
***Rel
iableandr el
ati
vel
ycons is
tentscienti
fi
cdatas howingas ubst
anti
alheal
th
benef
it
.
**Contradi
ctor
y,i
nsuffi
cient
,orpreli
minarys t
udi
ess uggesti
ngahealthbenefi
tor
mini
mal heal
thbenefi
t.
*Anher bisprimari
l
ys upport
edbyt radit
ionalus
e,ort heherborsupplementhas
l
it
tl
esci
ent i
fi
csupportand/ormini
mal healt
hbenefit
.

Whatar ethes ympt omsofcat aract s?Cataractsusuall

ydevel
opslowlywit
houtany
painorrednes soft heey e.Themos tcommons ymptomsofacataractar
efuzzyor
bl
urredv is
ion,increas i
ngneedf orl ightwhenr eadi
ngordoi ngothercl
osewor k,
vi
sualdis t
urbancescaus edbybr i
ghtl i
ghts(e.g.sunli
ght
,carheadli
ghts)
,faded
col
orper ception,poorni ghtvision,andf requentneedt ochangeey eglassor
contactlenspr escripti
ons.Acat ar actwillnotspreadfrom oneey etotheother,
al
thoughmanypeopl edevelopcat aractsi
nbot heyes.

Convent
i
onaltreat
mentopt i
ons:I
nthebeginni
ngs t
ages,theus eofmagni f
ying
l
enses,st
rongereyegl
ass
es ,andbri
ghterl
i
ghti
ngmaycompens ateforthevi
sion
pr
oblemscausedbycataracts
.Oncevis
ioni
snolongeradequat
ef ordai
lyact
i
vit
ies,
adoct
ormayrecommendsurgerytoremovethecl
oudedl
ensandr
eplacei
twi
t
ha
cl
earar
ti
fi
ci
all
ens.Inmanypeople,thelenscapsul
eremaini
ngi
ntheeyeaft
er
sur
ger
yevent
uall
ytur
nscl
oudy,causi
ngaddit
i
onall
ossofvi
si
on.

Li
fest
y l
echangest hatmaybehel pf
ul:Obesemenaresi
gni
fi
cantl
ymorel
ikel
yto
devel
opacat aractthanar
emenofnor malbodywei
ght
.Todate,mos
tbutnotal
l
populat
ion s
tudieshav efound an i
ncreas
ed ri
skofcat
aract
sasbodymas s
i
ncreases.

Nutri
t
ionalsuppl
ement
sthatmaybehel pf
ul:Peopl
ewi t
hlow bl
ood l
evel
sof
ant
ioxi
dantsandthosewhoeatfew ant
ioxi
dant-
ri
chfrui
t
sandv eget
abl
eshave
beenreport
edtobeathi
ghri
skf
orcat
aracts.

Vit
ami n B2 and v i
tami n B3 are needed t o prot
ectglutat
hione,an import
ant
anti
ox i
danti ntheey e.Vit
aminB2 def i
ciencyhasbeenl i
nkedt ocatar
acts
.Older
peoplet aking3mgofv i
taminB2 and40mgofv i
taminB3 perdaywer epart
ly
protectedagainstcataract
sinonet ri
al.
Howev er,
theint
akeofvitami
nB2inChinais
rel
ativel
yl ow,andi tisnotcl earwhet hers uppl
ementati
onwoul dhelpprevent
cataractsinpopulat
ionswher ev i
taminB2intakeishigher
.

Themaj oranti
oxi
dantsinthelensoft heey earevit
aminC andgl ut
athi
one( a
moleculecomposedofthreeaminoacids).Vi
tami
nCi sneededt oact i
vat
ev i
tamin
Ewhichi nt
urnacti
vat
esglut
athi
one.Bothnutr
ient
sareimpor t
antforhealt
hyvisi
on.
Peoplewhot akemult
ivi
t
aminsoranys uppl
ementscontai
ningv i
t
ami nsCorEf or
moret han10y ear
shav ebeenr epor
tedt ohavea60% l owerr i
skoff orminga
cat
aract.

Vit
ami nC l evelsi nt heey edecr eas ewi t
hage.Howev er,s upplement i
ng wi t
h
vi
tami nCpr ev
ent sthisdecr easeandhasbeenl i
nkedt oal owerr iskofdev el
opi ng
cataract
s .Heal thy peopl e ar e mor elikel
yt ot ake v i
tami n C and v i
t
ami nE
supplement st hant hosewi thcat aractsaccor di
ngt os ome,butnotal ls t
udies .
Dietaryvit
ami nCi ntakehasnotbeencons i
stentl
yas sociatedwi thprotecti
onf rom
cataract
s .Nonet heles s
,becaus epeopl ewhos upplementwi t
hv it
aminC hav e
dev el
opedf arfewercat aractsins omer esearch,doctor sof tenrecommend500t o
1,000mgofv itami nCs upplement ati
onaspar tofacat aractpr eventi
onpr ogram.
Thedi ff
erencebet weens uccess f
ulanduns uccessfultrialsmaybet iedtot he
l
engt hoft i
mepeopl eact uall
ys upplementwi thv i
taminC.I nonepr eli
minar ystudy ,
peoplet akingv i
tami nC f oratl eastteny ear ss howedadr amat icreductioni n
cataractr i
sk,butt hos et aking vit
aminC f orl esst han t en y earss howed no
evidenceofpr otect i
onatal l.

Low bl oodl evel

sofv it
aminE hav ebeenl i
nkedt oincreas ed ri
skoff or
ming
cataracts.Dietaryvi
t
ami nE intake hasnotbeen cons i
stentlyass ociat
ed wit
h
protecti
onf r
om catar
acts.Vit
aminEs upplementshavebeenr epor
tedt oprotect
againstcataractsi
nanimalsandpeople,thoughtheevidencer emainsi nconsi
st
ent.
I
nonet ri
al,peoplewhot ookvit
aminEs uppl
ementshadl esst hanhal ftheri
skof
devel
opi
ngcatar
acts,
comparedwit
hother
sinthefiv
e-years
tudy.Doct
orstypi
cal
l
y
recommend 400 IU ofvi
t
ami n E perday as prev
enti
on. Smal l
eramounts
(appr
oxi
matel
y50 IU perday)havebeenpr ov
eni ndouble-
bli
ndr esear
chto
provi
denoprot
ect
ion.

Some,butnotal ls
tudi
eshav ereport
edt hatpeopl eeatingmor efoodsrichinbet a-
carotene had a lowert he ri
skofdev eloping cataract
s .Supplement at
ion with
synthetic beta-
carot
ene has notbeen f ound tor educe t he ri
sk ofcat aract
for
mat ion.I tremains unclearwhet hernat uralbet a-carot
ene from f ood or
supplement swouldpr ot
ecttheey eorwhet herbeta-caroteneinf oodismer elya
mar kerforotherprot
ecti
vefactor
sinfrui
tsandv egetableshighinbeta-carotene.

Peoplewhoeatal otofs pinachandkal e,whichar ehighi nlutei

nandz eax anthin,
carot
enoidss i
mi l
artobet a- carotene,hav ebeenr eport
edt obeatl ow r i
s kfor
catar
acts
.Lut ei
n,z eax anthin,andbet a-carot
eneof ferthepr omi seofpr ot ect
ion
becauset heyar eant ioxi
dant s.Itisquitepos si
ble,howev er,thatluteini smor e
i
mpor t
antthanbet a-car ot
ene,becaus el
uteinisfoundi nthelensoft heey e,whi l
e
beta-
caroteneisnot .Inonepr el
iminarystudy,l
uteinandz eax anthi
nwer et heonl y
carot
enoidsas sociatedwi t
hpr otect
ionf r
om cat ar
acts.Peopl ewi tht hehi ghes t
i
ntakeofl utei
nandz eaxant hi
nwer ehalfasl i
kelytodev elopcat aractsast hose
wit
hthelowes tint
ake.

Thefl
avonoid,quer
cet
inmayalsohelpbyblocki
ngsorbit
olaccumulat
ionintheeye.
Thi
smaybees peci
al
lyhel
pfulforpeopl
ewi thdi
abetes,thoughnocl i
nicalt
ri
al
s
haveyetexplor
edwhetherquer
ceti
nactual
l
ypr ev
entsdiabeti
ccatar
acts.

Ar
et her
eanys ideeff
ect
sorint
eract
ions?Refertot
hei
ndi
vi
duals
uppl
ementf
or
i
nfor
mationaboutanysi
deef
fect
sorinter
act
ions.

Herbst hatmaybe hel pful

:Bil
berr
y,a closer el
at i
ve ofbl ueberr
y,ishigh in
fl
avonoidscall
edanthocyanosi
des.Ant
hocy anosi
desmaypr ot
ectboththel ens
and r eti
na from ox i
dati
ve damage. The pot ent antioxi
dant acti
vi
ty of
anthocyanosi
desmaymakebi l
berr
yusefulf orreducing ther is
kofcat aracts
.
Doctorss ometi
mesr ecommend 240 to 480 mg.perdayofbi lber
ryextract
,
capsules,ort
ablet
sst
andardi
zedtocont
ain25%ant hrocyanosides.

Ar
ether
eanysideeff
ect
sori
nter
act
ions?Refert
othei
ndi
vi
dual
her
bfor
i
nfor
mat
ionaboutanysi
deef
fect
sorint
eract
i
ons.

Formoreinf
ormationcont
act:
UcheePinesLif
estyl
eCenter
30UcheePinesRoad#75
Seal
e,Al
abama36875
Tel
.334-855-4764
www.ucheepi
nes .
org