A new study from Taichung Veterans General Hospital has found that people with a certain type of eye disease may have a higher chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease.
This eye condition is called normal-tension glaucoma. It harms the nerve that connects the eye to the brain, even though the pressure inside the eye is normal.
Because of this risk, the researchers suggest that people with this eye problem should also be checked for signs of Alzheimer’s.
Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve, which is needed for good vision. Usually, glaucoma happens when the pressure inside the eye is too high. But in normal-tension glaucoma, the pressure is not high, yet the optic nerve still gets damaged. This makes it harder to detect and treat.
In the past, scientists have looked at whether glaucoma and Alzheimer’s disease are related, but the results have not been clear. Few of those studies focused only on normal-tension glaucoma, which is why this new study is important.
The researchers used health data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. They studied medical records over 12 years. They looked at 15,317 people who had normal-tension glaucoma and compared them with 61,268 people who were the same age and gender but did not have glaucoma.
They found that people with normal-tension glaucoma were 52% more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease than those without it. The risk was even higher for people who were older, women, and those who had suffered a stroke before.
The study also looked at whether glaucoma eye drops made any difference in Alzheimer’s risk. These drops are often used to lower eye pressure and manage glaucoma. But in this case, they didn’t help protect against Alzheimer’s and didn’t increase the risk either.
It’s important to note that not everyone with this type of glaucoma will develop Alzheimer’s. But there is a strong connection between the two diseases.
Both conditions damage nerve cells over time. In glaucoma, the cells in the optic nerve are slowly destroyed, leading to vision loss. In Alzheimer’s, the brain cells that help with memory and thinking are gradually lost.
Researchers believe that by learning more about how nerve cells die in both diseases, they may be able to find better ways to treat or prevent them. Studying what happens to the eyes might even help scientists understand more about how Alzheimer’s begins and how to stop it from getting worse.
The study was led by Yu-Yen Chen and was shared at the 126th annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies that bad lifestyle habits can cause Alzheimer’s disease, and strawberries can be good defence against Alzheimer’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms, and Vitamin E may help prevent Parkinson’s disease.
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