THE USE OF VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS AND THE RISK OF CATARACT AMONG US MALEPHYSICIANS

Objectives. The purpose bf this study was to examine prospectively the association between reported use of vitamin supplements and risk of c ataract and cataract extraction. Methods. The study population consist ed of 17 744 participants in the Physicians' Health Study, a randomize d trial of aspirin therapy and beta-carotene among US male physicians 40 to 84 years of age in 1982 who did not report cataract at baseline and provided complete information about vitamin supplementation and ot her risk factors for cataract. Self-reports of cataract and cataract e xtraction were confirmed by medical record review. Results. During 60 months of follow-up, there were 370 incident cataracts and 109 catarac t extractions. In comparison with physicians who did not use any suppl ements, those who took only multivitamins had a relative risk of catar act of 0.73 after adjustment for other risk factors. For cataract extr action, the corresponding relative risk was 0.79. Use of vitamin C and /or E supplements alone was not associated with a reduced risk of cata ract, but the size of this subgroup was small. Conclusions. These data suggest that men who took multivitamin supplements tended to experien ce a decreased risk of cataract and support the need for rigorous test ing of this hypothesis in large-scale randomized trials in men and wom en.