AMD linked to heart disease

Older people who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are at increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a new study.

AMD is the most common cause of registered blindness in Ireland, affecting one in 10 people over the age of 50. The result of the study adds to mounting evidence that AMD and cardiovascular disease may share some risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, inflammatory indicators and gene variants.

The study did not show a link between AMD and stroke.

It followed almost 2,000 participants, who were free of CHD and stroke at the study's outset, for about seven years. More than one in four patients with AMD had heart disease, compared with 18.9% in those without AMD.

The association between AMD and CHD was found to be somewhat stronger in people age 69 to 78 than age 79 and up.

The results of the study were published in the journal Ophthalmology.

[Posted: Fri 02/10/2009]