Vision Disease Raises Stroke Risk

Previous studies examining the relationship between age-related macular degeneration and stroke have inconsistently suggested correlation between the two diseases. M. Kamran Ikram, from the Singapore Eye Research Institute (Singapore), and colleagues studied 12,216 middle-age individuals, ages 45 to 64 years, who had retinal photographs taken at the third examination visit of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.  Overall, 591 participants (4.9%) were diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration. Of those, 576 had early disease. Through follow-up, 619 of the participants (5.1%) had a stroke, including 548 cerebral infarctions, 57 intracerebral hemorrhages, and 14 subarachnoid hemorrhages. The team observed that the subjects with any age-related macular degeneration were about 50% more likely to have a stroke during follow-up, after adjusting for con founding factors.  Warning that: "Persons with [age-related macular degeneration] are at an increased risk of both cerebral infarction and intracerebral hemorrhage," the study authors submit that: "These data provide further insight into common pathophysiological processes between [age-related macular degeneration] and stroke subtypes.”