Health
Estrogen Benefit: Cataract Protection
ThirdAge women taking estrogen replacement therapy may be getting a bonus -- protection against cataracts. Indiana University School of Medicine researchers say you can add optic lens cells to the list of body parts that are sensitive to the hormone.
Lens cells have estrogen receptors. And in a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers say estrogen may play a role in preventing cataracts as women get older.
Dr. Robert Bigsby says a study on rats provided some key indicators: 74 percent of the animals in a test not receiving estrone -- the predominant natural estrogen in post-menopausal women -- or estradiol -- the main estrogen given to pre-menopausal women -- developed cataracts.
Only 12 percent of rats receiving estradiol and 25 percent of those getting estrone developed cataracts. Research shows more than 50 percent of cases of blindness are caused by cataracts. Age-related cataracts affect more women than men and one study shows women with an early onset of menopause have a 2.9-fold risk of developing the debilitating eye growth.
Take our ThirdAge Menopause Quiz.
Lens cells have estrogen receptors. And in a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers say estrogen may play a role in preventing cataracts as women get older.
Dr. Robert Bigsby says a study on rats provided some key indicators: 74 percent of the animals in a test not receiving estrone -- the predominant natural estrogen in post-menopausal women -- or estradiol -- the main estrogen given to pre-menopausal women -- developed cataracts.
Only 12 percent of rats receiving estradiol and 25 percent of those getting estrone developed cataracts. Research shows more than 50 percent of cases of blindness are caused by cataracts. Age-related cataracts affect more women than men and one study shows women with an early onset of menopause have a 2.9-fold risk of developing the debilitating eye growth.
Take our ThirdAge Menopause Quiz.
