A healthy lifestyle for cardiovascular health also promotes good eye health

In a new study, researchers found that ideal cardiovascular health, indicating a healthy lifestyle, was associated with lower odds of ocular diseases, especially diabetic retinopathy. These findings that appear in the American Journal of Medicine, published by Elsevier, suggest that interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease may also hold promise in the prevention of ocular diseases.

Globally, about 2.2 billion people suffer from ocular diseases that lead to vision or blindness. Approximately half of these cases could have been prevented. The leading causes of blurred vision or blindness are age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, and glaucoma.

“Previous studies have observed associations between eye diseases and individual life factors such as smoking, obesity, or hypertension,” explained lead researcher Duke Appiah, Ph.D., MPH, Department of Public Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, USA. “It is known that these metrics of ideal cardiovascular health do not only work and may interact in addition to result in disease. However, prior to our research, no other studies have combined all metrics of ideal cardiovascular health with ocular fully evaluated diseases.”

Most ocular diseases show a few symptoms in the early stages and many people may not seek medical attention despite easily obtaining treatments. A recent online nationwide survey of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States conducted by the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine showed that 88 percent of the 2,044 respondents considered a good vision essential for overall health with 47 percent of them judging losing their vision as the worst illness that could ever happen to them. Alarmingly, 25 percent had no knowledge about ocular diseases and their risk factors.

This research shows that following healthy lifestyle and behavioral habits can all contribute to good cardiovascular health as assessed by adhering to the presentation of the American Heart Association for Health Metrics, known as Life’s Simple Seven (LS7). LS7 is based on the status of seven risk factors for cardiovascular disease: non-smoking, regular physical activity, healthy diet, maintenance of normal weight, and control of cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels.

This healthy lifestyle combined exercise was found to be associated with lower odds for age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, and glaucoma. Individuals with optimal cardiovascular health had 97 percent lower chances of diabetic retinopathy compared to individuals with insufficient cardiovascular health.

Researchers evaluated data from 6,118 adults 40 or more years old who participated in the 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Exvey Survey. The average age of participants was 57 years old, 53 percent of whom were women. An increase of one unit in LS7 scores was associated with decreased odds of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma.

“In general, we believe that approaches to primary prevention and early detection of ocular diseases are important, given that more than half of all deaths due to ocular and cardiovascular diseases are known to occur,” commented co-researchers Noah De La Cruz, MPH, and Obadeh Shabaneh, MPH, both of the Department of Public Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, FS.

Since there is a significant overlap of the risk factors for ocular and cardiovascular disease, the researchers recommend that screening for ocular disease be included in existing clinical and population-based screenings for cardiovascular disease.

“We hope that our research results will encourage adherence to healthy lifestyles to prevent these age-related diseases, while also leading to increased collaborations between cardiologists, optometrists, and ophthalmologists to better prevent cardiovascular and ocular diseases,” noted Dr. Appiah.