Fight Aging!

While the destination is the same, blindness due to a breakdown of retinal structure and function, not all cases of age-related macular degeneration start in the same way. There are notable differences between patients in the early stages of the condition. Researchers here suggest that vascular dysfunction drives one form of macular degeneration, reduced blood flow to the retina leading to the aggregation of molecular waste and consequent cell death. This is one example of many: cardiovascular aging contributes indirectly to a great many of the common age-related conditions.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in people over 65 years old and is the result of damage to the central area of the retina called the macula, which is responsible for reading and driving vision. One major form of early AMD is called drusen, where small yellow cholesterol deposits form in a layer under the retina. They can deprive the retina of blood and oxygen, leading to vision loss. Drusen formation can be slowed by appropriate vitamin supplementation.

The other major form of early AMD is the presence of subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD), which is lesser known, and requires high-tech retinal imaging to detect. These deposits are also made of fatty lipids and other materials, but form in a different layer beneath the light sensitive retina cells, where they are also associated with vision loss. Currently, there is no known treatment for SDD.

Researchers analyzed 126 patients with AMD and found that patients with cardiovascular disease or stroke were three times more likely to have SDD than patients without. The researchers suggested that the underlying heart and vascular disease likely compromises blood circulation in the eye, leading to the SDDs beneath the retina and ultimately causing vision loss and blindness. "We believe poor ocular circulation that causes SDDs is a manifestation of underlying vascular disease. This study further demonstrates that AMD is not a single condition or an isolated disease, but is often a signal of systemic malfunction which could benefit from targeted medical evaluation in addition to localized eye care."

Link: https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2022/blinding-eye-disease-is-strongly-associated-with-heart-disease-and-stroke