One in five cases of dementia in older adults is found to be associated with vision loss.
Medical researchers and gerontologists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Michigan, and Duke University School of Medicine in the United States examined medical records of people aged 71 and older and found that about one in five (19%) cases of dementia was associated with at least one form of vision impairment.
The research results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association-Ophthalmology (JAMA Ophthalmology) on the 5th (local time).
Scientists do not yet know exactly what causes dementia. However, they strongly suspect that several factors are involved, one of which is sensory decline. According to this hypothesis, as the senses lose their sharpness, the brain must work harder to understand the external environment, and at the same time, the brain itself undergoes an aging process. This can result in cognitive and memory loss. The link between hearing loss and dementia has been confirmed in previous studies.
In this study, the researchers investigated whether people aged 71 years or older who experienced vision loss in one or more of the following areas: near vision, distance vision, or contrast perception were more susceptible to dementia.
The researchers analyzed medical data from a representative sample of 2,767 older adults across the United States who had vision and cognitive tests in 2021. They found that 32.2% had at least one of the three types of vision impairment. Impaired contrast sensitivity, the ability to distinguish between colors and shades, was the most prevalent type of vision impairment (15%). Near vision impairment (9.7%) and distance vision impairment (4.9%) followed.
The prevalence of dementia among people with at least one visual impairment was 19.0%.
The researchers pointed out that if visual impairment had been properly treated, about 20% of dementia cases could have been prevented.
According to the medical media outlet Medical Xpress, other previous studies have shown that about 90% of vision problems in the elderly can be corrected with glasses or surgery.
The researchers acknowledged that the findings are based on association rather than causation, but they said they suggest that addressing vision loss may be effective in preventing dementia.
Reporter Park Hae-sik, Donga.com [email protected]
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2024-09-10 18:57:11