Study shows daily aspirin intake can lead to blindness
Baku, October 17 (AZERTAC). A new study published in Ophthalmology reveals that while taking a daily aspirin may reduce the risks of heart disease and stroke, a disturbing side effect has also been noted to increase the risk of developing macular degeneration.
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in Americans over the age of 60 and affects millions of Americans. It is an age related disease that destroys the central vision by killing cells in the macula. Macular degeneration comes in two forms known as dry and wet. Dry macular degeneration is more common and less severe while wet macular degeneration is the more severe.
Researchers, led by Dr. Paulus de Jong from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Academic Medical center, looked at medical information on some 4,700 adults over the age of 65. Of those patients, 839 were taking aspirin on a daily basis. The researchers discovered that out of those 839, 36 suffered from an advanced form of macular degeneration known as wet macular degeneration. This works out to about four out of every 100 patients on daily aspirin.
When they looked at patients that were not taking aspirin on a daily basis, the number dropped to only two out of every 100 diagnosed with wet macular degeneration. The researchers learned that the aspirin connection seems to only relate to the increased risk to wet macular degeneration and not to the dry form of the disease.
This study does not show that aspirin causes the vision loss but that it may somehow exacerbate the disease. The researchers warn that while cautioning patients on the risk to visual health when taking daily aspirin is advisable, the risk does not outweigh the cardiovascular benefits in patients with cardiovascular disease.
De Jong says that larger studies are needed in order to follow patients over time to see just how daily aspirin use plays a role in macular degeneration and if there is a way to reap the cardiovascular benefits while reducing the risk of vision complications.
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