Cancer Risk & Early Cataracts
There has been an association
between the early onset of cataracts-in patients under 55 years old and the
potential risk for developing cancer. This is thought to be due to the fact
that early onset
cataract is linked to insufficient antioxidative activity in one’s
metabolism-which is also a known factor for increasing the risk of cancer. Researchers reporting the journal Cancer
Science,
the official journal of the Japanese
Cancer Association investigated the risk of cancer after being diagnosed
with early onset cataract. The researchers examined claims from the Taiwan
National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of patients with early onset
cataract, aged 20-55 and also compared it to a group of the same age range
without cataracts. By using powerful statistical analysis they found that the overall incidence rate of all cancers
was 2.19-fold higher in the early onset cataract group as compared to those
without cataracts. Further they were
able to analyze where these patients were at greatest risk of developing cancer
and found head and neck areas highest, followed by liver cancer and then breast
cancer. This study suggests that patients with early onset cataract are at an
increased risk of being diagnosed with cancer in subsequent years.
If you or someone you know is concerned about early cataract development or needs a regular eye exam where do a routine cataract screening
and exam, please share this information with them and ask them to call The Eye
Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center, Google+ or
facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.
The Eye
Care & Surgery Center is located at 592 Springfield Avenue,
Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059
and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, and is conveniently located for patients from throughout
central and northern New Jersey.
