Link between MD and heart disease

Australian eye researchers have demonstrated that people with macular degeneration are more likely to develop heart disease.

People with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have an increased risk of developing heart disease, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA).

The study in the Ophthalmology journal found that people with early AMD were almost 60 per cent more likely to develop coronary heart disease than people who did not have the disease.

Scientists have believed there is an association between AMD and cardiovascular disease for some time but this study is the first to establish a consistent link between the two.

“We don’t fully understand the causes of AMD however increasing evidence suggests the disease shares similar genetic and environmental risk factors with cardiovascular disease,” said principal investigator, Professor Tien Wong.

“Smoking, a diet high in fat and hypertension are all risk factors of both AMD and heart disease and the two share common genetic variants.”

Researchers monitored 1,786 people between the ages of 69 and 97 years who did not have coronary heart disease, over a seven year period.

Almost 26 per cent of the participants who had early AMD developed heart disease, compared to only 18.9 per cent of those who did not.

Macular degeneration is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in Australia and one in seven people over the age of 50 are affected by it. 

Tags: clinical-care, eye-sight, heart-disease, macular-degeneration,

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