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Red Wine Drinkers Decrease Risk of Cataracts
Researchers studying older people say beer drinkers
dont do as well
Aug. 15, 2005 - Red wine consumption decreases the
risk of cataract but beer does not seem to work, say researchers who
studied older people in Iceland.
That is the conclusion of researchers in the
Reykjavik Eye Study. The study was designed to look at the deterioration
of eyesight in 1,379 people age 55 and older. These researchers at the
University of Iceland in Reykjavik followed the health and diet of a
group over 55 year olds for a period of five years. The study examined
the progression of age-related eye disease in Iceland and was mainly
concerned with cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration.
The alcohol consumption research was designed to
look at whether there was an association between cataract development
and alcohol use. Results showed that non-drinkers and heavy drinkers of
any sort of alcohol had a substantially increased risk for cataract
development, while moderate red wine drinkers had only half the risk.
For red wine drinkers, moderate consumption was
anything between two glasses per month to two or three glasses per day.
Moderate red wine drinking had the largest protective effect, but
drinking moderate amounts of spirits, such as whiskey or brandy, also
had a protective effect - just not as strong. Beer drinkers, on the
other hand, had an increased risk of developing cataracts.
"These were mostly red wine drinkers because white
wine is not widely consumed in Iceland," coauthor Fridbert Jonasson, a
professor of ophthalmology at the University of Iceland told Wine
Spectator Magazine. "We don't know if white wine does the same."
"Healthy eating just got more attractive, says Dr
Lesley Frederikson, National Director of the NZ Association of
Optometrists, in New Zealand. "People understand the benefits of the
Mediterranean diet for reduced heart risk and now we find that it is
good for your eyes as well"
Dr Frederikson recommends eating foods rich in
vitamins, minerals and antioxidants; keeping fat intake low; and eating
fish at least twice a week.
"These have all been suggested as protective
factors in relation to age-related eye disease such as macular
degeneration" she says. "Now we can add in a glass or two of red wine
and still be eating healthy".
In another interesting finding of the study, among
the 71 men with nuclear cataract, 15 were employed as commercial pilots.
The increased risk was attributed to cosmic radiation exposure.
These results were presented at the Association for
Research in Vision and Ophthalmology's annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale
in May.
Source:
H. Sasaki, F. Jonasson, Y. Suwa, M. Koike, N.
Takahashi and K. Sasaki. The Protective Effect of Wine Intake on Five
Year's Incidence of Cataract - Reykjavik Eye Study.
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