A new study out of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that improvements to what are considered common vision problems could possibly prevent dementia in as much as 20% of older people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s important to note that the study doesn\u2019t prove that having visual problems lead to or cause dementia. Rather the study confirms what earlier studies have suggested\u2026that there is a link between these two conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study preformed a post-mortem investigation of 86 human donors who had been diagnosed with cognitive issues. The investigation revealed that changes to the retina corresponded to changes to the regions of the brain responsible for memory and time perception. In fact, it appears the some eye conditions are tied to specific types of dementia; age-related macular degeneration tends to occur in tandem with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, while glaucoma seems to be more commonly tied to vascular dementia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study, which consisted of 2767 older patients, found that up to 19% of dementia cases had some form of vision problem, including loss of sensitivity in contrast and being able to distinguish small details (like text) called visual acuity. The link between dementia and vision was 9 times higher when contrast sensitivity was included instead of just visual acuity. Loss of sensitivity occurs with macular degeneration and cataracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some factors were not included in the study: different races, impact of glasses or contacts, which will hopefully lead to additional studies and more answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This research was first published in JAMA Ophthamology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read the article in its entirety: www.sciencealert.com\/your-eyesight-could-be-putting-you-at-risk-of-developing-alzheimers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new study out of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that improvements to what are considered common vision problems could possibly prevent dementia in as much as 20% of older people. It\u2019s important to note that the … Continue reading