The study, which does not prove causality, found that vitamin C users were 38 per cent more likely to get cataracts than non-users, according to findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Data from 24,593 women aged between 49 and 83 participating in the Swedish Mammography Cohort were used in the study, which documented 2497 cataract extraction cases over 8.2 years.
“Our results indicate that the use of vitamin C supplements may be associated with higher risk of age-related cataract among women,” concluded the researchers.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
February 2010, Volume 91, Issue 2, Pages 487-493
“Vitamin C supplements and the risk of age-related cataract: a population-based prospective cohort study in women”
Authors: S. Rautiainen, B.E. Lindblad, R. Morgenstern, A. Wolk