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Dietary carbohydrate intake and glycemic index in relation to cortical and nuclear lens opacities in the Age‐Related Eye Disease Study
Author(s) -
Chiu ChungJung,
Milton Roy C.,
Gensler Gary,
Taylor Allen
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a185-c
Subject(s) - medicine , quartile , glycemic index , odds ratio , logistic regression , cataracts , ophthalmology , diabetes mellitus , glycemic , endocrinology , confidence interval
Background Little is known about the effect of dietary carbohydrates on cataract development in non‐diabetic persons. Objective Our objective was to test whether recent dietary carbohydrate intake or glycemic index (GI) is associated with the presence of cortical or nuclear opacities. Design A modified Block food frequency questionnaire was used to obtain dietary information from participants in the Age‐Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). Lens status was evaluated using the AREDS System for Classifying Cataracts. Associations were examined for eyes with only a single, or pure, type of lens opacity. The generalized estimating approach to logistic regression was used to account for the lack of independence between the eyes of an individual. Results For persons in the highest quartile, dietary GI was associated with a higher occurrence of all pure nuclear opacities (grade > 2) (odds ratio (OR) = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.04–1.59; P‐trend = 0.02) and moderate nuclear opacities (grade ¡Ý 4) (OR = 1.43, 95% CI, 0.96–2.14; P‐trend = 0.052). Data also suggested that cortical opacities of any severity (>0% area opaque) are more common among participants with higher carbohydrate intake. The OR comparing the highest with the lowest quartile of intake was 1.27 (95% CI, 0.99–1.63; P‐trend = 0.09). The OR increased somewhat for moderate cortical opacities (> 5% area opaque) (OR = 1.71, 95% CI, 1.00–2.95; P‐trend = 0.056). Conclusions These data suggest that carbohydrate nutrition may be associated with prevalent nuclear and cortical opacities. Dietary carbohydrate quantity and dietary glycemic quality may play different roles in the development of cortical and nuclear lens opacities.