Relation of blood homocysteine and its nutritional determinants to age-related maculopathy in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Blood homocysteine and its nutritional determinants folate and cyanocobalamin (vitamin B-12) have been shown to affect the risk of vascular disease. The pathogenesis of age-related maculopathy (ARM) is related to adverse vascular changes.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the associations between homocysteine, its nutritional determinants, and ARM in persons aged >or= 40 y participating in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The body of evidence to support a protective role for lutein and zeaxanthin in delaying chronic disease. Overview.

Recent evidence introduces the possibility that lutein and zeaxanthin may protect against the development of the two common eye diseases of aging, cataract and macular degeneration. This potential and the lack of other effective means to slow the progression of macular degeneration have fueled high public interest in the health benefits of lutein and zeaxanthin and the proliferation of supplements containing them on pharmacy shelves. An understanding of the biologic consequences of limiting or supplementing with these carotenoids is only beginning to emerge.

Relationship of dietary fat to age-related maculopathy in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between dietary fat and age-related maculopathy (ARM) in persons 40 years or older who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Methods: We used a single, nonmydriatic, fundus photograph of 1 eye to ascertain ARM status in 7883 of 11 448 survey participants. Intake of fat was estimated from 24-hour recall, and specific sources of dietary fat were estimated from responses to food frequency questionnaires.

Lutein and zeaxanthin in the diet and serum and their relation to age-related maculopathy in the third national health and nutrition examination survey.

Relations of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin in the diet and serum to photographic evidence of early and late age-related maculopathy (ARM) among persons over age 40 years (n = 8,222) were examined. Inverse relations of these carotenoids in the diet or serum to any form of ARM were not observed overall. There was a direct relation of dietary levels to one type of early ARM (soft drusen).

Correlates of serum alpha- and gamma-tocopherol in the Women's Health Initiative.

Purpose: There is increasing evidence that vitamin E (primarily alpha- and gamma-tocopherol) may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers, therefore it is important to understand factors that influence blood levels.

Methods: The correlates of serum alpha- and gamma-tocopherol were investigated among participants in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a 40-site disease prevention trial. Subjects were 1047 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years, who provided fasting blood specimens and detailed information on diet, supplement use, and other factors at entry to the study (1994-96).

Vitamin supplement use and incident cataracts in a population-based study.

Objective: To determine the relationship between vitamin supplement use and the 5-year incidence of nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular cataract in the Beaver Dam Eye Study cohort.

Design: The 5-year incidence of cataract, determined from slitlamp (nuclear cataract) and retroillumination (cortical and posterior subcapsular cataract) photographs, was assessed in a population-based cohort of persons participating in baseline (1988-1990) and follow-up (1993-1995) examinations. Detailed data regarding the type, dosage, and duration of supplement use were obtained by in-person interviews at follow-up.

Age-related maculopathy in a multiracial United States population: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for age-related maculopathy (ARM) in three racial/ethnic groups: non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Mexican-Americans.

Design: A nationally representative population-based, cross-sectional study.

Participants: A total of 8270 persons 40 years of age or older, a sample of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Antioxidant intake and risk of incident age-related nuclear cataracts in the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

The relation of antioxidant nutrients to the incidence of nuclear cataracts was investigated in a cohort of adults aged 43-84 years in the Beaver Dam Eye Study (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin). Nuclear opacity was assessed on a five-point ordinal scale using lens photographs taken at baseline (1988-1990) and at follow-up (1993-1995). Of the 1,354 persons eligible, 246 developed a nuclear cataract (level 4 or 5 opacity) in at least one eye.

Serum carotenoids and tocopherols and incidence of age-related nuclear cataract.

Background: It is not known whether the protective effects of antioxidants on cataract observed in experimental animals are relevant to age-related opacities in humans.

Objective: The relations of serum carotenoids and tocopherols to the incidence of age-related nuclear cataract were investigated in a random sample of 400 adults, 50-86 y of age, in the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Design: Nuclear opacity was assessed by using lens photographs taken at baseline (in 1988-1990) and follow-up (in 1993-1995).

Supplement users differ from nonusers in demographic, lifestyle, dietary and health characteristics.

This study delineates demographic, lifestyle, dietary and health factors associated with the use of supplements at varying levels. Data are from a population-based cohort of 2,152 middle- to older-age adults living in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Information was collected by in-person interviews between 1988-1990.

Prevalence of hearing loss in older adults in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study.

There are no recent population-based data on the prevalence of hearing loss in older adults using standard audiometric testing. The population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study was designed to measure the prevalence of hearing loss in adults aged 48-92 years, residing in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Hearing thresholds were measured with standardized protocols using pure-tone air- and bone-conduction audiometry in sound-treated booths.

Associations between antioxidant and zinc intake and the 5-year incidence of early age-related maculopathy in the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Associations between antioxidants and zinc and the 5-year incidence of early, age-related maculopathy (ARM) were investigated in a population-based cohort of middle-aged and older adults participating in the Beaver Dam Eye Study in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. A food-frequency questionnaire was administered at baseline (1988-1990) to collect dietary information for that time period and a period of time 10 years earlier (1978-1980) from a 50 percent random sample of persons participating in this study. The incidence of the specific lesions of larger drusen (>125 microns) and pigmentary abnormalities and the incidence of any ARM were assessed by masked grading of stereoscopic color fundus photographs in 1,709 persons who participated in 5-year follow-up eye examinations.

Usual consumption of plant foods containing phytoestrogens and sex hormone levels in postmenopausal women in Wisconsin.

Consumption of phytoestrogens may reduce hormone-dependent cancer risk through alterations in the actions or metabolism of steroid hormones. Studies in humans of phytoestrogen-hormone interactions have been limited and inconsistent. Relations between the consumption of phytoestrogen-containing foods and serum sex hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin were studied in a population-based sample of postmenopausal women who participated in the Nutritional Factors in Eye Disease Study of the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Incorporating fat-modified foods into a food frequency questionnaire improves classification of fat intake.

Objective: To determine the extent to which incorporating fat-modified foods into a food frequency questionnaire influences the agreement of energy and nutrient estimates with estimates obtained from food records.

Design: Subjects completed four 2-day food records at 3-month intervals. At the end of the recording period, a food frequency questionnaire was administered to assess usual daily intake during the preceding year.

Influence of using different sources of carotenoid data in epidemiologic studies.

Objective: This study compared distributions of carotenoid intake and diet-serum correlations using two sources of carotenoid data: the US Department of Agriculture-National Cancer Institute (USDA-NCI) carotenoid food composition database and values accompanying the Block-NCI Health Habits and History Questionnaire (HHHQ).

Design And Subjects: A 100-item food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary data from 2,152 adults, aged 43 to 85 years, who were participating in the Nutritional Factors in Eye Disease Study, a population-based study designed to evaluate nutritional factors associated with age-related eye disease. Blood samples were collected from a random sample of 400 nonfasting participants in the study.

Association of zinc and antioxidant nutrients with age-related maculopathy.

Objective: To quantify relationships between dietary intake of zinc and antioxidant nutrients and early and late age-related maculopathy (ARM).

Design: A retrospective longitudinal cohort design using data pertaining to diets in the past (1978-1980), which were assessed retrospectively using a food frequency questionnaire.

Setting: Beaver Dam, Wis.

Human serum carotenoid concentrations are related to physiologic and lifestyle factors.

We examined the concentrations of five carotenoids in the serum and diet of a population-based sample of 400 individuals to determine what physiologic and lifestyle factors were related to serum carotenoid concentrations, how these relationships differed among the carotenoids, and if these relationships reflected differences in carotenoid intake. Lower serum concentrations of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and lutein+zeaxanthin generally were associated with male gender, smoking, younger age, lower non-HDL cholesterol, greater ethanol consumption and higher body mass index. Serum lycopene generally was not related to these factors, but lower lycopene levels were associated with older age and lower non-HDL cholesterol.

Serum antioxidants and age-related macular degeneration in a population-based case-control study.

Objective: To investigate relationships between levels of tocopherols and carotenoids in the serum and age-related macular degeneration (ARMD).

Design: A nested case-control study within a population-based cohort.

Participants: Cases included a sample of subjects with retinal pigment abnormalities with the presence of soft drusen (n = 127) or with late ARMD (geographic atrophy [n = 9]) or neovascular and exudative macular degeneration (n = 31).

Zinc intake and sources in the US adult population: 1976-1980.

Objective: To determine levels of intake and food sources of zinc in 1976-80 in US adults between the ages of 19 and 74.

Methods: Dietary data from 24-hour recalls collected in the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Levels of zinc intake were compared between demographic subgroups using analysis of variance.

Alcohol use and age-related maculopathy in the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Purpose: Because there are few epidemiologic data examining the relationship between alcohol use and age-related maculopathy, we investigated this relationship via the population-based Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Methods: Alcohol consumption in the year before examination was determined by a standardized questionnaire. Age-related maculopathy status was determined by grading stereoscopic color fundus photographs.

Dietary fat and age-related maculopathy.

Objective: To describe the relationship between type and level of fat in the diet and the prevalence of age-related maculopathy.

Design: Retrospective population-based study.

Setting And Participants: Residents of Beaver Dam, Wis, between the ages of 45 and 84 years, participating in the Beaver Dam Eye Study and Nutritional Factors in Eye Disease Study.