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Regular aspirin use linked to increased risk of eye disease: Study

Written by: QMI Agency
Jan. 23, 2013

(Sean Kilpatrick/QMI Agency)

Regular aspirin use is associated with an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration -- a major cause of blindness in older adults -- a new study has found.

For the study, published this week in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers looked at analyzed data from a 15-year Australian study on eye disease. For that study, participants had four exams from 1992-94 to 2007-09, and at each one photographs of retinas were taken for both eyes, to show any signs of age-related macular degeneration.

Researchers determined whether study participants were regular aspirin users, taking aspirin at least once a week over the last year, in a structured interview.

Of the 2,389 participants, 257 were regular aspirin users and nearly 25% (63) of them developed age-related macular degeneration over the course of the study. The 15-year cumulative incidence of the disease was 9.3% in regular aspirin users and 3.7% in those who weren't regular aspirin users. And even after adjusting the data for heart-disease risk factors, such as age, sex, smoking, history of heart disease, blood pressure and body mass index, regular aspirin users had a higher risk of developing age-related macular degeneration.

Aspirin is widely used to prevent heart disease and is often taken by older adults to prevent stroke and heart attack.

In their study, the researchers say that there isn't enough evidence for doctors to change their clinical practices, including aspirin-use recommendations, but that their research "raises the possibility that the risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration may also need to be considered."

 

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