PEOPLE who develop certain eye conditions are also at increased risk of dementia, according to new research.

Around 1.5million people in the U.K. suffer with age-related macular degeneration, a condition where a person’s eyesight worsens as they age.

A study of more than 12,000 middle-aged Britons enrolled in the U.K. Biobank study found people with the condition are 25 percent more likely to develop dementia.

For people with cataracts, a condition which plagues around one in three people aged over 65 in the U.K., the increased risk of dementia is 11 percent compared to people with no optical health issues.

People with diabetes-related eye disease had a 61 percent heightened risk of dementia. Glaucoma was not linked to a significant increase in risk.

Participants in the study were assessed in 2006 and again in 2010 and followed up until 2021.

More than 2,300 cases of dementia were documented among the participants, according to the experts led by academics from the Guangdong Eye Institute in China.

Researchers also found that people with previous conditions — including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and depression — were also more likely to be diagnosed with dementia.

Risk was highest among people with one of these conditions who also had some form of eye condition, they said.

The authors concluded: “Age-related macular degeneration, cataract and diabetes-related eye disease but not glaucoma are associated with an increased risk of dementia.

“Individuals with both ophthalmic and systemic conditions are at higher risk of dementia compared with those with an ophthalmic or systemic condition only.”

The researchers did not look at the underlying mechanisms belying the correlation, and as a result are unable to ascertain causation.

Other studies have suggested that vision impairment can be one of the first signs of dementia, and reduced visual stimulation is believed to accelerate its progression.

(SD-Agencies)