Patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who have a visual disability with the disease are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Researchers at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Korea conducted a nationwide cohort study involving nearly 4 million adults. Researchers analyzed the link between AMD, visual disability and the risk of CVD using data received from the Korean National Health Insurance database covering the years from 2009 - 2019.
Having age-related macular degeneration did not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease but when patients reported a visual disability, researchers found they were at 17% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Visual disability was defined as best-corrected visual acuity of <20/100 and the participant providing documentation from a specialized physician.
Researchers emphasized the need for a prospective study that targets a chronological order in AMD and visual disability to better understand the link between AMD with visual disability and CVD.
