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Fruits and vegetables may lower glaucoma risk in African-American women
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Increased intake of fruits and vegetables high in vitamin A, vitamin C and carotenoids may be linked with a lower risk of glaucoma in older African-American women, according to a study.
“Any single constituent of fruits and vegetables may not fully explain the apparent beneficial association observed in this study,” the study authors said. “As such, it may be better to recommend increased overall intake of fruits and vegetables at this time, rather than supplements.”
Data were culled from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, which included 584 African-American women older than 65 years who completed the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire. All subjects underwent optic nerve photography and visual field testing.
Seventy-seven subjects (13.2%) were diagnosed with glaucoma in at least one eye.
Subjects who consumed three or more daily servings of fruits or fruit juices were 79% less likely to have glaucoma than those who consumed less than one serving daily.
Subjects who ate more than two weekly servings of fresh oranges and peaches had a lower risk of glaucoma than those who ate less than one serving weekly.
Subjects who ate one weekly serving of collard greens or kale had a 57% lower risk of glaucoma than those who had less than one serving monthly.
Adjusted data showed that higher intakes of vitamin A, vitamin C and beta-carotene were associated with a significantly reduced risk of glaucoma (P = .011, P = .018 and P = .021, respectively), the authors said.
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