Is aspirin use associated with lower rates of cataracts in diabetic individuals?

The relationship between a history of aspirin use and cataracts in diabetic individuals is examined in this report from a population-based study of 1370 individuals who developed diabetes after 30 yr of age. After pupil dilation lenses were examined for the presence and severity of nuclear sclerotic and posterior subcapsular cataracts and for surgical aphakia. A history of aspirin usage was obtained. Seven hundred eighty-four individuals had used aspirin in the month before the exam. There was no relationship between such usage and cataracts. For 338 people who reported using aspirin daily for at least 3 mo while having diabetes, there was also no association. These data suggest that aspirin usage as measured here has little effect on the prevalence of cataract in older-onset diabetic patients.