Aspirin exacerbates senile vision loss

Taking daily doses of aspirin for preventing cardiovascular disease may boost vision loss in older people with signs of a definite progressive eye disease. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a medical condition which usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field or macula. A new study of about 4,700 European people aged over 65 years showed that taking daily aspirin may boost vision loss in those with an advanced form of the disease called wet macular degeneration, Reuters reported. According to the results, 36 of the 839 people who took daily aspirin had the severe eye condition which equates to about four out of every 100 daily aspirin users. About two out of every 100 people who took fewer aspirins were diagnosed with the same type of macular degeneration, researchers wrote in the journal Ophtalmology. Findings showed no association between daily aspirin intake and early AMD or dry macular degeneration which is more common than the wet form but less severe. Although the study does not confirm that aspirin causes vision loss, findings are of concern if aspirin can exacerbate the eye disorder, said senior author Dr. Paulus de Jong of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Academic Medical Center. “I think the effects of aspirin may be different in the early stages of age-related macular degeneration than in the late stages,” he added. Researchers emphasized that they do not recommend all patients with AMD stop taking their daily doses of aspirin as in some people the risk of cardiovascular disease and death is more critical than vision loss. “While it's a good idea to caution people that aspirin might have a deleterious role in macular degeneration, a healthy eye with full visual capacities is of no use in a dead body,” Paulus noted. In other words, for patients with cardiovascular disease who take aspirin to prevent the condition from worsening, the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks to visual health.