Cataracts: Vitamins prevent

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With age, more and more people lose their perspective, this is due to cataracts. The lens becomes cloudy and prevents the incidence of light, which creates an image in the head. But the signs of old age can be prevented - with a healthy diet.

One more reason to eat fruit and vegetables: This apparently prevents the development of cataracts. At least that's what a new study by scientists at King’s College London suggests, which examined the influence of genes and the environment on eye health. Ekaterina Yonova-Doing and her team documented the eating habits and the condition of the eye lenses of over 300 female pairs of twins, who were 60 years and older, over a period of 10 years.

Genes play a subordinate role

The result: those who regularly integrated fruit and vegetables into their diet reduced their risk of clouding of the lens by 33 percent. If the women fell ill with cataracts anyway, the visual impairment was less pronounced and progressed more slowly. When comparing the identical and dizygotic twin pairs, the researchers found that the influence of diet (65 percent) was almost twice as high as that of genes (35 percent).

The scientists also have a theory as to which ingredient could be responsible for the positive effect: "We believe that the protective effect is based on the antioxidant properties of vitamin C," the researchers say. Vitamin C is also contained in the eye fluid and supports the breakdown of oxygen radicals, which could otherwise lead to clouding of the lens. Anyone who now consumes a lot of vitamin C ensures that the vitamin C level in the eye fluid is higher - and can thus provide better protection.

"The human body cannot produce vitamin C, so we have to rely on it in our food," explains Yonova-Doing. However, it is important from which sources you consume it - only vitamin C taken from natural food had the preventive effect, not vitamin preparations. "In order to reduce the risk of cataracts, it is better to rely on a healthy diet than on vitamin tablets," the researcher concludes. Why this is so has not yet been clarified.

In addition to vitamin C, according to the evaluation, the trace element manganese also helps to protect the eye from cataracts. It is mainly found in black tea and cereal products such as bran.

100 million operations worldwide

For most people, vision loss is a natural part of the aging process. The flexibility of the lens decreases and the composition of the eye fluid changes. Cataracts affect almost half of all 52 to 64 year olds and almost everyone over the age of 65.

Many sufferers do not notice the visual disturbance for a long time, because it develops slowly. If your eyesight is too impaired, surgery is usually done. The clouded lens is smashed and removed and replaced with an artificial lens. Around 600,000 such operations are performed each year, and there are over 100 million worldwide. The prognosis after an operation is good: around 90 percent of patients regain visual performance of 50 to 100 percent after the operation. (vv)

Source: Yonova-Doing, E. et al. Genetic and Dietary Factors Influencing the Progression of Nuclear Cataract. Ophthalmology. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.01.036.

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