Long-term daily multivitamin supplement use decreases cataract risk in men

[DavidDvorkin]

Researchers also find a slight, though statistically non-significant, increase in age-related macular degeneration risk among multivitamin users; call for further study

SAN FRANCISCO – Feb. 20, 2014 – Long-term daily multivitamin supplement use may lower cataract risk in men, according to a study of nearly 15,000 male physicians published this month in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Past observational studies have indicated a relationship between nutritional supplement use and eye health. However, randomized trial data on the effects of long-term multivitamin supplement use and risk of eye diseases are limited and, in some cases, non-existent. To address this, researchers based at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School – as part of the Physicians' Health Study II (PHS II) – conducted a randomized, double-blind study from 1997 to 2011 of 14,641 U.S. male doctors age 50 and older. Half took a common daily multivitamin, as well as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene supplements. The other half took a placebo. The researchers followed the participants to identify how many participants in each group developed new cases of two common eye diseases: cataract, which is a clouding of the eye's lens, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the deterioration of the eye's macula that is responsible for the ability to see fine details clearly.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/aaoo-ldm022014.php

[Egalitarian Thug]

1. K&R I hope this gets somewhere. n/t