Harvard University researchers report that obesity appears to significantly increase the risk of developing cataracts, the leading cause of blindness.

In a review of two large studies of 87,682 women and 45,549 men aged 45 or older, the researchers found that those with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 were 36 percent more likely to develop cataracts than their leaner counterparts.

The researchers reported in the International Journal of Obesity that obesity did not seem significantly associated with nuclear cataracts, the most common form of cataract which develops in the nucleus or center of the eye lens of most people as they age.

But the researchers reported a strong link between obesity and posterior subcapsular (PSC) cataracts, the most visually disabling type that forms in the back of the eye lens and affects vision rapidly and severely.

"Obesity increases the risk of developing cataracts overall, and of PSC cataracts in particular," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: International Journal of Obesity