Sun-sensitive medications and healthful diets may affect cataracts

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Cataracts may be negatively affected by medications that increase sun sensitivity but positively influenced by a healthful diet, according to two studies released yesterday in Archives of Ophthalmology.

In one study, researchers found that people who used medications that increase sensitivity to sunlight, along with sun exposure, could increase the risk of developing age-related cataracts. Researchers followed 4,926 men and women from Beaver Dam, Wis. for 15 years. Data was collected on the participants’ average annual exposure to ambient UV-B rays, and on the medications they took.

From the beginning of the study to the end, the percentage of people taking these medications nearly doubled. Sun-sensitizing medications included antidepressants, diuretics, antibiotics, and naproxen sodium, a pain reliever. Developing cataracts in general was not linked with the medications or sunlight exposure. But when researchers adjusted for age and sex, they did notice a link between the use of those drugs, UV-B exposure and the development of cortical cataracts, which are common age-related cataracts. Although the study authors were not sure why the interaction led to cataracts, they did note that the eye lens, which is developed from the same tissue layer as skin, may be similarly sensitive to sun-sensitizing medications.

The other study found a link between more healthful diets and a lower prevalence of nuclear cataracts, which develop in the center of the lens and are also age-related. Researchers looked at data on the dietary habits of 1,808 women age 55 to 86. Among the women, 736 (41%) had nuclear cataracts found on lens photographs, or had cataracts removed. Having a diet higher in vegetables, fruits, milk, grains and meat or other proteins and lower in fat, saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol was linked with lower rates of cataracts, more than other adjustable risk factors.

The authors noted in the study that positive lifestyle changes overall may have an effect on cataracts: ‘Lifestyle improvements that include healthy diets, smoking cessation, and avoiding obesity may substantively lower the need for and economic burden of cataract surgery in aging American women.’

-- Jeannine Stein

Some medications that cause sun sensitivity may also have an effect on cataracts. Photo credit: Philipp Guelland / AFP/Getty Images

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