Saturday, January 9, 2010

More Fat fewer cataracts?

maybe


Dietary fat intake and incidence of cataracts: The SUN Prospective study in the cohort of Navarra, Spain.
[Article in Spanish]

Martínez-Lapiscina EH, Martínez-González MA, Guillén Grima F, Olmo Jiménez N, Zarranz-Ventura J, Moreno-Montañés J.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate prospectively the association between dietary fat intake and the incidence of cataracts in participants from the SUN cohort.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Among 12308 men and women, initially free of cataracts and followed-up for up to 6 years, we identified 182 incident cases of cataracts. Fatty acids intake was assessed by a validated 136-item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, lifestyle, health-related habits and information about medical conditions were also collected. Incident cases of cataract were ascertained by self-reports using a biennale questionnaire.
RESULTS: Participants belonging to the highest category of omega-6 fatty acids intake had a non-significantly reduced risk of cataracts in the model adjusted for potential confounders but not for other fatty acids (adjusted OR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.33, 1.03). When all types of fatty acids (saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated omega-6 and polyunsaturated omega-3) were included simultaneously in the same multivariable model, this inverse association became significant (adjusted OR: 0.54 95%CI: 0.29, 0.99). There were no significant associations between other dietary fats and the risk of cataracts.
CONCLUSION: High intake of omega-6 fatty acids showed a modest but significant inverse association with the development of cataracts.

1 comment:

Robert McLeod said...

It's pretty well known that glycation (attachment of sugar molecules to protein chains) is a cause of one of the three major types of cataracts, IIRC. So I'm guessing it's more a case of lower carbohydrate consumption than anything else. The lens is a particular structure of the body in this case.