A recent study published in Ophthalmology reveals that people who have low to moderate consumption of wine are less likely to require cataract surgery.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge and examined the association of alcohol consumption and type of alcoholic beverage with incident cataract surgery in two large cohorts.
Researchers used a questionnaire for over 450,000 participants to determine alcohol consumption at baseline. Study participants were undergoing cataract surgery in either eye. Those participants with cataract surgery up to 1 year after the baseline assessment visit or who had a self-reported cataract at baseline were not included.
Researchers found that those who consumed alcohol were less likely to undergo cataract surgery and among those who consumed alcohol, greater alcohol consumption was linked to a lower risk of undergoing cataract surgery.
The type of alcohol beverage also made a difference. Wine consumption had the greatest protective association and had the lowest risk of having cataract surgery.
Researchers did emphasize that additional studies are needed to determine whether the link is causal.
