Bariatric surgery is associated with a reduced risk for cataract development, according to a study presented at the European Congress on Obesity. Researchers examined the association between weight loss through bariatric surgery and risk for cataracts in a cohort study involving 22,560 bariatric surgery patients aged 40-79 who were propensity score-matched to 35,523 unexposed patients. During follow-up, 1,151 and 2,316 patients developed cataracts in the bariatric surgery group and unexposed group, respectively. Compared with unexposed patients, bariatric surgery patients had a decreased risk for cataracts overall (hazard ratio [HR], 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-0.76). The risk for cataracts in bariatric surgery patients versus unexposed patients increased with age, with the lowest risk seen for patients aged 40-49 (HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.44-0.75), while results were null for patients aged 60-79. The lowest risk for cataracts was seen for combined malabsorptive and restrictive surgery followed by malabsorptive surgery only compared with unexposed patients (HRs, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.20-1.20] and 0.68 [95% CI, 0.63-0.73], respectively), with null results for restrictive bariatric surgery. “Substantial weight loss is associated with a decreased risk of cataract, especially if obesity surgery was performed before age 60,” the authors said. “This decreased risk is an addition to the multitude of positive effects that weight loss has on eye health.”
