Statins may reduce cataract risk, study says

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can reduce the incidence of the most common type of cataract by 45 percent, according to a five-year study of nearly 1,300 people.

Researchers were surprised at the findings because several potential cholesterol-lowering drugs never made it to market because studies showed that they caused cloudiness and other eye problems.

The current study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was actually conducted to see if approved statin drugs might have similar, but previously unknown, side effects.

The study’s findings could have significant medical and financial impact because more than half of Americans develop cataracts by age 80 and an estimated 1.4 million cataract surgeries are performed each year in the U.S.

No one is recommending that patients take statins specifically to reduce the risk of cataracts, but the drugs have become so widely used that there is bound to be a certain spillover protective effect.

“It’s an interesting observation, and we’re very excited about it, but the findings need to be reviewed again and again in a variety of settings before we can really begin to accept them,” said lead author Dr. Barbara Klein, an ophthalmologist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Previous studies have found that statins, which provide powerful protection against heart disease and stroke because of their cholesterol-lowering ability, also protect against glaucoma and macular degeneration – and several other medical problems as well.

In the new study, their effect is thought to result from their ability to destroy oxidants, which can damage a variety of tissues. Stress-induced accumulation of oxidants has been shown to increase the risk of cataracts, and other antioxidant medications reduce risk, but not to the same degree as statins.

The subjects of the study were part of a larger group of 5,924 residents of Beaver Dam, Wis., whose visual health has been monitored since 1987. The current study group of 1,299 people had no cataracts in either eye when they were examined between 1998 and 2000. All were considered to be at increased risk of developing cataracts because of their age.

Over the course of five years, 210 people developed nuclear cataracts, in which the central portion of the eye clouds over.

Overall, 12.2 percent of the subjects who were taking statins for other purposes developed a cataract, compared to 17.2 percent of those who were not taking the drugs.