Consuming vitamin E supplements doesn't keep age-related cataracts in men at bay, a new study finds.
The study was conducted by researchers from Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston. Previous studies have established that dietary nutrients can have an effect on the onset and progression of cataracts. Vitamin E and selenium are two such nutrients. However, a new study finds that this may not be the case.
For the study, researchers used data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) Eye Endpoints (SEE) Study, which was an ancillary study of SELECT, a randomized placebo-controlled trial of selenium, vitamin E and a combination of the two in prostate cancer prevention among 35,533 men (50 years and older for black men and 55 years and older for all other men).
The particpants were asked to report cataract diagnosis or removal since entering the SELECT trial. A total of 11,267 SELECT participants took part in the SEE study. Researchers found that 389 cases of cataracts were reported during an average of 5.6 years of treatment and follow-up. These included 185 cases of cataracts in the selenium group and 204 in the group that didn't take selenium. Researchers also found that 197 cases of cataracts in the vitamin E group and 192 in the group without vitamin E were reported during this period too. Results were similar for cataract removal.
"These randomized trial data from a large cohort of apparently healthy men indicate that long-term daily supplemental use of vitamin E has no material impact on cataract incidence. The data also exclude any large beneficial effect on cataract for long-term supplemental use of selenium, with or without vitamin E, although a smaller but potentially important beneficial effect could not be ruled out," the study authors said in a press statement.
The study titled "Age-Related Cataract in Men in the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial Eye Endpoints Study: A Randomized Clinical Trial" was published online in the journal "JAMA Ophthalmology."