The Vitamin Pill That Can Save Your Sight

As you age, your risk for cataracts, cloudy spots on the lens of the eye, increases. But a simple vitamin pill may help prevent this problem.

A study by researchers at Harvard along with Brigham and Women’s Hospital that looked at the eye health of 15,000 men shows that taking a multivitamin supplement may lower your cataract risk.

Among the male physicians who were studied, taking a daily multivitamin shrank the chances of developing cataracts by 9 percent. In addition, the risk of a nuclear cataract, which appears at the center of the eye’s lens and is the most common cataract linked to aging, dropped by 13 percent.

The vitamin takers in the study were given a common daily multivitamin, as well as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene supplements.

The study also found the multivitamins slightly lowered the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common cause of vision impairment as people age.

Today about 10 million Americans have vision limited by cataracts. The researchers believe more research is needed to firm up the significance of this study result.

“If multivitamins really do reduce the risk of cataract, even by a modest 10 percent, this rather small reduction would nonetheless have a large public health impact.

source: Easyhealthoptions