Statin use is associated with a 57% increased risk of age-related cataract

This study was published in Optometry and Vision Science 2012 Aug;89(8):1165-71

 

Study title and authors:

Age-related cataract is associated with type 2 diabetes and statin use.

Machan CM, Hrynchak PK, Irving EL.

School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22797512

This study investigated the associations between age-related cataract, type 2 diabetes, and statin use. The study included 6,397 patients aged 1-93 years.

The study found:
(a) Statin users had a 57% increased risk of age-related cataract compared to non-users.
(b) The 50% probability of cataract in statin users occurred at age 51.7 and 54.9 years in patients with type 2 diabetes and without diabetes, respectively. In non-statin users, it was significantly later at age 55.1 and 57.3 years for patients with type 2 diabetes and without diabetes, respectively.

The results of the study show that statin use is associated with an increased risk of age-related cataract.