BACKGROUND: The association between arteriosclerosis and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has only been examined in a few studies and the data is still very inconsistent. METHODS: A cross sectional study was initiated with 730 patients from the Münster age and retina study (MARS) which examines patients in the age range 60 to 80 years old who were referred by ophthalmologists from the Muenster area. Patients with narrow angle glaucoma were excluded. All patients underwent a standardized ophthalmoscopic examination und were classified into four groups: group 1 without AMD ( n=190), group 2 with unilateral or bilateral early forms of AMD ( n=340), group 3 with unilateral late forms of AMD ( n=139) and group 4 with bilateral late forms of AMD ( n=50). By means of these groups it was tested if there was a significant difference between the different risk factors for arteriosclerosis. RESULTS: The mean age was 72 years and 58% were women and the sex distribution within the different groups did not differ significantly (all trend tests with p>0.1). General risk factors for arteriosclerosis such as diabetes, body-mass-index and hypertension did not differ significantly (all trend tests with p>0.1). The number of smokers increased significantly with the severity of AMD ( p=0.02). Furthermore, various lipids were examined, adjusted for age and sex and showed significant decrease of HDL ( p=0.087) and significant increases of the HDL/LDL quotient ( p=0.0007) and the non-sober triglyceride values ( p=0.0058) correlated with the severity of AMD. CONCLUSIONS: There was a highly significant, direct association of indicators of dyslipidemia such as increasing HDL/LDL quotient and decreasing HDL with the severity of AMD. These results were underlined by increased triglyceride levels even if they were taken non-sober. The results must be interpreted with caution due to the explorative character of the evaluation.
BACKGROUND: The association between arteriosclerosis and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has only been examined in a few studies and the data is still very inconsistent. METHODS: A cross sectional study was initiated with 730 patients from the Münster age and retina study (MARS) which examines patients in the age range 60 to 80 years old who were referred by ophthalmologists from the Muenster area. Patients with narrow angle glaucoma were excluded. All patients underwent a standardized ophthalmoscopic examination und were classified into four groups: group 1 without AMD ( n=190), group 2 with unilateral or bilateral early forms of AMD ( n=340), group 3 with unilateral late forms of AMD ( n=139) and group 4 with bilateral late forms of AMD ( n=50). By means of these groups it was tested if there was a significant difference between the different risk factors for arteriosclerosis. RESULTS: The mean age was 72 years and 58% were women and the sex distribution within the different groups did not differ significantly (all trend tests with p>0.1). General risk factors for arteriosclerosis such as diabetes, body-mass-index and hypertension did not differ significantly (all trend tests with p>0.1). The number of smokers increased significantly with the severity of AMD ( p=0.02). Furthermore, various lipids were examined, adjusted for age and sex and showed significant decrease of HDL ( p=0.087) and significant increases of the HDL/LDL quotient ( p=0.0007) and the non-sober triglyceride values ( p=0.0058) correlated with the severity of AMD. CONCLUSIONS: There was a highly significant, direct association of indicators of dyslipidemia such as increasing HDL/LDL quotient and decreasing HDL with the severity of AMD. These results were underlined by increased triglyceride levels even if they were taken non-sober. The results must be interpreted with caution due to the explorative character of the evaluation.
Authors: W Smith; J Assink; R Klein; P Mitchell; C C Klaver; B E Klein; A Hofman; S Jensen; J J Wang; P T de Jong Journal: Ophthalmology Date: 2001-04 Impact factor: 12.079
Authors: Benjamin M Neale; Jesen Fagerness; Robyn Reynolds; Lucia Sobrin; Margaret Parker; Soumya Raychaudhuri; Perciliz L Tan; Edwin C Oh; Joanna E Merriam; Eric Souied; Paul S Bernstein; Binxing Li; Jeanne M Frederick; Kang Zhang; Milam A Brantley; Aaron Y Lee; Donald J Zack; Betsy Campochiaro; Peter Campochiaro; Stephan Ripke; R Theodore Smith; Gaetano R Barile; Nicholas Katsanis; Rando Allikmets; Mark J Daly; Johanna M Seddon Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2010-04-12 Impact factor: 11.205