Approximately 20.5 million Americans age 40 and older have cataracts, and more than half of all Americans develop cataracts by age 80.

What is a cataract? A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s clear lens, which prevents the passage of light you need for vision.

Who’s at risk? Everyone is at risk of developing cataracts because age is the greatest risk factor. Other risk factors include: obesity, hypertension, smoking, family history of cataracts, diabetes, inadequate antioxidant intake, previous eye injury or inflammation, previous eye surgery, and excessive exposure to sunlight.

Several recent studies show that lutein, zeaxanthin and resveratrol—antioxidant phytonutrients—help prevent and/or delay the progression of cataracts and other eye diseases.

Scientific studies

Lutein and zeaxanthin are the only carotenoids detected in the human lens and may protect against cataracts by filtering harmful short-wave blue light, and by providing antioxidant support.^{1 2}

According to a report published in the January 2008 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, high intakes of lutein and zeaxanthin were found to help protect healthy postmenopausal women against cataracts in a large study. These phytochemicals have also been shown to improve macular degeneration in patients.

Scientists at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School examined the dietary information provided by 35,551 female health workers who originally enrolled in the Women's Health Study in 1993. Their dietary and other health factors were analyzed for a 10-year period. By the end of the follow-up period, 2,031 women had developed cataracts.

Investigators concluded that women with the highest intake of lutein and zeaxanthin were 18 % less likely to develop cataracts. They also found that women with the highest intake of vitamin E were 14 % less likely to develop cataracts.²

Resveratrol may delay cataract progression

Resveratrol, the potent antioxidant found in grapes and red wine, has preventative and regenerative abilities that inhibit and potentially reverse cataract development, as well as age-related macular degeneration and retinal diseases.

Researchers from Turkey studied the effect resveratrol had on inhibiting the development of induced cataracts in laboratory animals.

Forty-eight rats were separated into three treatment groups:

• The control group was injected with a normal saline ethanol solution.
• The second group was injected with sodium selenite.*
• The third group was given sodium selenite plus resveratrol (40 mg/kg).

Selenium is an essential element (animals require selenium for selenium-dependent enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase). Sodium selenite is currently used in some food supplements in microgram quantities, but it is toxic at higher levels. The chronic toxic dose for human beings is about 2400 to 3000 micrograms of selenium per day. The animals in this experiment were given a toxic dose that produced oxidative stress, resulting in cataracts.

On day 21, cataract development was graded by slit-lamp examination and photography. The results showed that:

• The control group’s lenses were clear.
• In the second group all the animals developed cataracts.
• In the third group only 9 of 16 animals developed cataracts.

The researchers concluded that resveratrol suppressed cataract formation that had been caused by oxidative stress in the third group of rats. This finding supports the possibility that high natural consumption of resveratrol (in food and supplements) can help prevent cataracts in humans.³

References

Articles of Interest from Smart Publications Health & Wellness Update

• NAC Eye Drops Are The “Russian Cataract Cure”
• Green Tea and Lutein Support Healthy Vision