Eye diseases increase the risk of dementia

A study published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology showed that age-related macular degeneration, cataracts and diabetes-related eye diseases are associated with an increased risk of dementia

Visual impairment may be one of the first symptoms of dementia, and the reduction of visual sensory pathway stimulation is thought to accelerate its progression

Some small-scale studies have shown that there may be a link between eye diseases that cause visual impairment (age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetes-related eye diseases, and glaucoma) and cognitive impairment

Therefore, it is not clear whether these eye diseases are independent of these system diseases and are associated with a higher incidence of dementia.

Participants were assessed at baseline from 2006 to 2010 and followed up until the beginning of 2021

Analysis of these data shows that eye diseases associated with age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and diabetes, but not glaucoma, are independently associated with an increased risk of dementia from any cause

Compared with people who had no eye disease at the beginning of the study, people with age-related macular degeneration had a 26% higher risk of dementia, people with cataracts had a 11% higher risk, and people with diabetes-related eye disease had a 61% higher risk.

Although glaucoma is not associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, it is associated with an increased risk of vascular dementia

At the beginning of the study, participants were asked whether they had had a heart attack, angina, stroke, high blood pressure, or diabetes, and were assessed for depression

Suffering from these diseases (systemic diseases) and eye diseases at the same time will further increase the risk of dementia.

This is an observational study.

Nonetheless, they concluded that “eye diseases associated with age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and diabetes, but not glaucoma, are associated with an increased risk of dementia

They added: "The newly discovered high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, heart disease and depression are links between cataract/diabetes-related eye diseases and dementia

DOI

10.

Associations of ophthalmic and systemic conditions with incident dementia in the UK Biobank