Retinopathy
Associated With Cognitive Impairment
Study
shows an independent relationship between retinopathy and cognitive
impairment.
The
results of a study published in the June issue of Stroke suggest that
there is an independent association between retinopathy and cognitive
impairment in middle-aged individuals who have not had a stroke.
Dr.
Tien Yin Wong, of the National University of Singapore, and colleagues
examined the association between retinal microvascular abnormalities
and cognitive impairment in 8734 middle-age subjects every 3 years
from 1987 to 1998. At baseline, all of the subjects, who were
participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, had not
experienced a stroke.
During
patient office visits, the researchers obtained retinal photographs
and examined them for retinal microvascular abnormalities.
Standardized tests, including the Delayed Word Recall Test, Digit
Symbol Subtest, and Word Fluency Test were then used to assess
cognitive function.
Retinopathy
was associated with lower cognitive test scores after adjustment for
education, diabetes, blood pressure, carotid intima-media thickness
and other risk factors. "The adjusted odds ratios for persons
with Delayed Word Recall scores 2 SD or lower than the mean were 2.60
for any retinopathy, 3.00 for microaneurysms, 3.39 for retinal
hemorrhage, and 3.07 for soft exudates," the team reports.
Because
diabetes and hypertension are known to influence retinopathy and
cognitive function, the team repeated the analyses in subjects with
and without these conditions. The results of the cognitive tests were
similar in both groups.
These
results suggest that cerebral microvascular disease may play an
important role in the pathogenesis of cognitive impairment, Dr. Wong
and colleagues note. "Longitudinal data may clarify the temporal
sequence of these associations and the eventual clinical significance
of these small, early cognitive function changes." Stroke
2002;http://www.strokeaha.org.
Did
You Know:
Further
research found lower concentrations of beneficial immune-system
chemicals in the wounds of women under stress. Those wounds took 24
percent longer to heal than similar wounds in women not stressed.
