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London, January 26 (IANS): Air pollution is linked to an increased risk of progressive and irreversible vision loss, known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a new study suggests.
The results, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, indicate that people living in the most polluted areas were at least 8% more likely to report suffering from AMD.
“Our results suggest that living in an area with polluted air, especially fine particles or combustion-related particles from road traffic, could contribute to eye diseases,” the author said. principal, Paul Foster, professor at University College London in the United Kingdom. .
“Even relatively low exposure to air pollution appears to have an impact on the risk of AMD, suggesting that air pollution is an important modifiable risk factor affecting the risk of eye disease for a very large number of people,” added Foster .
AMD is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in people over 50 in high-income countries, with the number of people affected expected to reach 300 million by 2040.
Known risk factors include advanced age, smoking, and genetic makeup.
For the study, the team relied on data from 115,954 UK Biobank study participants aged 40 to 69 without eye problems at the start of this study in 2006.
Participants were asked to report any formal diagnosis of AMD by a physician. And structural changes in the thickness and / or number of light receptors in the retina – indicative of AMD – were evaluated in 52,602 of the participants.
Ambient air pollution measurements included those for particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
The research team found that people living in areas with higher levels of fine particle pollution were more likely to report having AMD after taking into account potentially influencing factors such as underlying health conditions. and the way of life.
All pollutants except coarse particles were associated with changes in retinal structure.
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