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Inhaled steroids increase cataract risk, study finds

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Long-term use of high doses of inhaled steroids increases patients’ risk of developing cataracts, a large British study found.

Liam Smeeth, MD, and colleagues at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released a study of 15,479 people with cataract over the age of 40 and an equal number of people of the same age and gender distribution without cataract. The mean age of participants was 75.

Of patients with cataract, 11.4% had used inhaled corticosteroids, compared to 7.6% of patients without cataract.

“We have shown that while people with a diagnosis of [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] or asthma have around a 50% increased risk of cataract, the increased risk can be attributed to previous exposure to inhaled and systemic corticosteroids,” the authors reported in the October issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.