EFFECT OF AGE AND DIET ON DEVELOPMENT OF CATARACTS IN THE DIABETIC RAT

Abstract
Young diabetic rats develop cataracts much sooner than adult rats. There is a highly significant inverse correlation between degree of glycosuria and time required to develop cataracts in animals receiving an ordinary purified diet. High fat diets protected diabetic rats from developing cataracts for as long as 120 days and decreased practically to zero the glucose in the urine. Diets containing high amts. of choline or tocopherols and diets containing no fat delayed significantly the appearance of diabetic cataracts, and the time required to develop cataracts was apparently unrelated to the degree of glycosuria.