(LifeWire) - Being diagnosed with retinopathy, an eye disease characterized by damage to the retina and usually cause by a problem with the eye's blood supply, may be only one of several health concerns for a patient, since the potentially blinding condition is also strongly linked to the presence of heart disease.
Several 2008 studies show that retinopathy causes changes to tiny blood vessels behind the eye that are associated with increased calcification in the coronary arteries, known as atherosclerosis.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that followed 1,021 patients over nearly nine years, retinopathy sufferers -- both men and women -- are more than twice as likely to develop or die of heart failure as those free of the condition. The phenomenon held true even when other risk factors for heart disease were not present.
Nearly half the 18 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes also suffer from retinopathy, which can be triggered by uncontrolled high blood sugar levels damaging the tiny vessels of the retina. Diabetes is also a major risk factor for heart disease, which affects 80 million Americans.
Several other conditions can also spur retinopathy, including premature birth, but diabetes is its leading cause. Bleeding, swelling and protein deposits at the back of the eye can impair vision, although retinopathy can be successfully treated, especially when caught early.
A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology involved more than 6,100 multi-ethnic people (in other words, people of various ethnicities), ages 45 to 84, with no prior history of heart disease, and found that 50% of those who tested positive for retinopathy also had atherosclerosis, which results in narrowed arteries and decreased blood flow to the heart.
Scientists reason that similar physiologic processes underlie both retinopathy and heart disease, including impaired circulation and possible inflammation in the blood vessels. This association allows physicians to have a stronger basis for predicting heart disease in patients, regardless of their status for other risk factors, which include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or being overweight.
Researchers are now investigating the value of adding a retinal exam to a CT scan of the heart to better predict heart disease. The symptoms of retinopathy can include blurred vision or seeing floating spots that are actually flecks of blood. Some sufferers have no symptoms.
Read here for more on diabetic retinopathy.
Sources:
Cheung, Ning, Jie J. Wang, Sophie L. Rogers, Frederick Brancati, Ronald Klein, A. Richey Sharrett, and Tien Y. Wong. "Diabetic Retinopathy and Risk of Heart Failure." Journal of the American College of Cardiology 51(2008): 1573-8. 8 Oct. 2008 <http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/16/1573>.
"Diabetic Retinopathy." nih.gov. Apr. 2006. National Eye Institute. 8 Oct. 2008 <http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy.asp>.
Liew, Gerald, Tien Wong, Paul Mitchell, Ning Cheung, and Jie Jin Wang. "Retinopathy Predicts Coronary Heart Disease Mortality." Heart 1(2008). 8 Oct. 2008 <http:heart.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/hrt.2008.146670v1>.
"National Diabetes Statistics, 2007." nih.gov. 2008. National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. 9 Oct. 2008 <http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics/>.
Wong, Tien, Ning Cheung, F.M. Amirul Islam, Ronald Klein, Michael H. Criqui, Mary Frances Cotch, J. Jeffrey Carr, Barbara E.K. Klein, and A. Richey Sharrett. "Relation of Retinopathy to Coronary Artery Calcification." American Journal of Epidemiology 167:1(2008) 51-8. 10 Oct. 2008 <http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/1/51>.
