A new international study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests that accelerated biological ageing may significantly increase the risk of developing cataracts, offering fresh insight into why some people experience age-related vision decline earlier than others.¹

The research, titled “Linking accelerated biological ageing to cataract susceptibility: evidence from cross-cohort analysis,” was published online on May 6 and examined associations between markers of biological aging and cataract development across multiple population cohorts. 

The research included people aged 40 and above with biological ages, including phenotypic age (PhenoAge), Klemera-Doubal method (KDMAge) and retinal age (RetiAge), from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and UK Biobank. The cross-sectional analyses were conducted to identify associations of PhenoAge or KDMAge acceleration with cataract and other blinding eye diseases using logistic regression. 

According to the investigators, individuals showing signs of accelerated biological aging appeared more susceptible to cataracts, supporting the theory that systemic aging processes may directly influence eye health. The study consisted of 5,433 people from the US NHANES and 269,615 people from the UK Biobank. In both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, accelerated biological aging was positively associated with an increased risk of cataract (all P<0.05). In a longitudinal cohort, RetiAge acceleration demonstrated the larger effect size estimates (HR 1.54 (95% CI 1.38 to 1.73)) compared with PhenoAge acceleration (HR 1.05 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.08)) and KDMAge acceleration (HR 1.06 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.08)). Only in the UK population, risks of glaucoma showed stronger links with KDMAge acceleration (HR 1.06 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.11)), while AMD showed more pronounced associations with PhenoAge acceleration (HR 1.08 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.14)).

The researchers say the study could have implications for preventive medicine and early screening strategies. If biological aging markers can reliably identify people at higher risk of cataracts, clinicians may eventually be able to intervene earlier through lifestyle changes, monitoring or targeted therapies. Researchers noted that further studies will be needed to determine whether slowing biological aging could reduce cataract risk or delay disease onset. 

Reference

1. Chi K, He Y, et al. Linking accelerated biological ageing to cataract susceptibility: evidence from cross-cohort analysis. Br J Ophthalmol. Published online May 7, 2026. doi:10.1136/bjo-2025-329061.