Cholesterol-Lowering drug May be Good for Avoiding Cataract
People who take statins such as Zocor or Lipitor, for example, have a 45 percent reduced risk of developing a cataract, a clouding of the lens of the eye, according to a report in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.
Oxidative stress is thought to play a role in the development of cataracts, therefore, treatment with statins, which seem to have antioxidant as well as lipid-lowering properties, may be useful in preventing this common eye problem, says study co-author Kristine E. Lee, from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison.
Lee hypothesized that statin use would reduce the risk of cataracts, but experts were surprised by the strength of the association. Nonetheless, she agreed that it is premature to recommend statins solely for their possible role in cataract prevention and called for randomized trials to investigate this topic.
This risk reduction uncovered in this study applied to the most common type of age-related cataract, called a nuclear cataract. The rates of other types — cortical and posterior subcapsular cataracts — were not significantly different between statin users and non-users.
Filed under Cataract Surgery, Eye Treatment
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