Air pollution linked to higher risk of sight loss from AMD

(Image: Pixabay CC0) - Air pollution is linked to a heightened risk of progressive and irreversible sight loss, known as age related macular degeneration (AMD), reveals a large long term study led by UCL researchers. They found that people in the most polluted areas were at least 8% more likely to report having AMD, according to the findings published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology . Lead author Professor Paul Foster (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology) said: "Here we have identified yet another health risk posed by air pollution, strengthening the evidence that improving the air we breathe should be a key public health priority. Our findings suggest that living in an area with polluted air, particularly fine particulate matter or combustion-related particles that come from road traffic, could contribute to eye disease. "Even relatively low exposure to air pollution appears to impact the risk of AMD, suggesting that air pollution is an important modifiable risk factor affecting risk of eye disease for a very large number of people." AMD is the leading cause of irreversible blindness among people over 50 in high-income countries, with the numbers of those affected projected to reach 300 million by 2040. Known risk factors include older age, smoking, and genetic make-up. Air pollution has been implicated in brain conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and stroke, while a 2019 study by the same research team found that air pollution was linked to elevated glaucoma risk.