
Originally Posted by
vindicated346
Approximately 0.1% of the population suffered from cataracts, which has been put down to a Vitamin C deficiency by – genetic predisposition. According to a study in the 1950s by Ogino and Yasukura, they found that DNP users with a genetic predisposition to cataracts had a higher chance of developing it, but with vitamin C supplementation, or a vitamin C rich diet, cataracts didn’t develop.
The best research came in the 1950's by Ogino and Yasukura. They found that guinea pigs fed a vitamin C deficient diet while on DNP developed cataracts, while those that supplemented with vitamin C did not. As they explained, "In these experiments, it is clear that there is a close relationship between the production of cataract and vitamin-C deficiency." They then went on, though a series of fascinating steps, to isolate the cataractogenic metabolite of DNP (the chemical derived from DNP that can cause cataracts). They identified it as 2-amino-p-quinonimine. They found that the hydroxyl- and nitro-radicals of DNP in the p-position of the benzene ring are essential to the production of dinitrophenol cataract. There are various other cataractogenic agents that are similar quinoid substances.
Ogino and Yasukura said "This suggests that a genetic predisposition plays an important role in susceptibility to this cataract. This notion is strengthened by the fact that, in spite of extensive experiments of long duration by many authors, it has been found impossible to produce dinitrophenol cataract experimentally in various other species, namely, in rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and dogs, although Bettman observed dinitrophenol cataract in a special strain of mice." If there's a genetic predisposition, then some people might be much more likely to develop cataracts than others. It's also possible that while a few people are susceptible, others are essentially immune.