Eye Conditions Provide New Lens Screening for Alzheimer's Disease

A study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association found a connection between three degenerative eye diseases — age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma — and Alzheimer's, reports EurekAlert . Analysis of 3,877 randomly selected individuals, age 65 and older, who did not have Alzheimer's disease at the time of enrollment determined those with age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, or glaucoma were at a 40 percent to 50 percent higher risk of developing the disorder compared to similar people without these eye conditions. "This study solidifies that there are mechanistic things we can learn from the brain by looking at the eye," says University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine Professor Paul Crane. The investigators note several variables suggest the effects they found were specific to ophthalmic conditions and not just age-related phenomena. "The main message from this study is that ophthalmologists should be more aware of the risks of developing dementia for people with these eye conditions and primary care doctors seeing people with these eye conditions might be more careful on checking on possible dementia or memory loss," says UW School of Medicine Professor Cecilia Lee.