Air pollution is associated with an increased risk for progressive and irreversible vision loss, known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Researchers, including those from University College London, UK, noted that AMD is the leading cause of unavoidable blindness among people over 50 in high-income countries, with the numbers expected to reach 300 million by 2040.
Known risk factors include old age, smoking, and genetic predisposition.
Because environmental air pollution is associated with higher risks of heart and respiratory diseases, the study, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, analyzed whether it could also be associated with a higher risk. of AMD.
The researchers extracted data from 115,954 UK Biobank (UKBB) study participants aged 40-69 without eye problems at the start of this 2006 study.
Environmental air pollution measures included those for granular material (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Of the total number of study participants, 1,286 were diagnosed with AMD, according to the researchers.
Among the 52,602 people evaluated, 75 percent of those with a clinical diagnosis of AMD had signs of AMD on retinal images compared to just 12 percent of those without a clinical diagnosis of AMD.
Analysis of the data showed that exposure to higher granular substances (PM2.5) was associated with a higher risk (8 percent) of AMD, while all but one other contaminant was exposed. coarse-grained material, associated with changes in retinal structure.
The researchers noted that it is a speculative study, and therefore, they cannot establish a cause, adding to the conclusions, however, it does not correspond to those found in it. elsewhere in the world.
They suggest that environmental air pollution may be associated with AMD through oxidative stress or inflammation.