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Poor carbohydrate quality intake may be linked to cataract development
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Poor dietary carbohydrate quality may be associated with cortical cataract development, according to a study by researchers in Australia.
Jennifer Tan, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Sydney investigated the associations between glycemic index, glycemic load, total carbohydrate intake and the 10-year incidence of nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular cataract in 3,654 patients aged 49 years and older.
From the initial study population, 933 patients were followed out to 5 or 10 years and included in the final results. These patients completed a food-frequency questionnaire, had neither previous cataract surgery nor baseline cataract and had photographs taken to identify incident cataract. The researchers adjusted glycemic index, glycemic load and other nutrients for energy, and controlled for age, sex and diabetes as well as additional factors, according to the study.
Increased glycemic index significantly predicted incident cortical cataract. Patients in the highest quartile of glycemic index were more likely to develop cortical cataract than those in the lowest quartile (P = .035), the authors reported.
"These findings were similar after excluding participants with diabetes, although they were slightly attenuated and marginally nonsignificant," they said.
However, the researchers found no association between glycemic index and either nuclear or posterior subcapsular cataract. They also found no association between either glycemic load or carbohydrate quantity and any cataract subtype.
The study is published in the November issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.