A new study conducted by a research team at the Harvard Medical School, has indicated lower cataract risk in men who take daily multivitamins, Newsmax Health.

Half of the 14,641 male doctors participating in the study took a multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene supplements every day from 1997 to 2011. The other half took a placebo for the same amount of time. During the study period, 872 men who took the multivitamin developed cataracts, compared to 945 men who developed cataracts after taking the placebo.

Findings concluded a 9 percent lower risk of developing cataracts during the course of the study, and a 13 percent lower risk of developing the most common aging-related cataract, nuclear cataract.

"If multivitamins really do reduce the risk of cataract, even by a modest 10 percent, this rather small reduction would nonetheless have a large public health impact," study researcher William Christen, ScD., said in a statement.

While this new research doesn't include why multivitamins appear linked to decreased cataract risk, the likely answer is antioxidants, as oxidative stress may be the reason for cataract development.