Cataract surgery may lower hip fracture risk

july 31, 2012 (WLS) -- Cataract surgery may lower the risk of hip fractures in older adults.

The largest study its kind looked at more than 1 million Medicare patients with cataracts.

Nearly 39 percent underwent cataract surgery. The others did not.

Researchers then compared the number of hip fractures in both groups.

They found those who had cataract surgery had lower rates of hip fractures.

Cataracts have been blamed for nearly half of hip fractures related to falls from visual impairment.

This study is reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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