Gaining weight in middle age could considerably increase the risk of man’s suffering blindness later in life, revealed a new study. The increase in waistline can put men at risk of developing age- related macular degeneration (AMD), which is leading cause of vision loss among people worldwide.
Even little increases in waist size appear to raise the risk of men suffering AMD by up to seventy-five percent. AMD affects people usually after the age of fifty. Nine in ten cases include form of dry AMD that grows over many years. The remaining includes wet AMD that can cause blindness in just three months.
It is occurred due to the growth of new blood vessels over the macula, it is a small oval-shaped area at the back of the eye helping to identify visual details clearly. These blood vessels seep out fluid, causing scar tissue to form and destroying vision in the centre of the eye. This makes it hard to recognize faces, read or watch TV.
In a study carried out by researchers from the University of Melbourne monitored changes in waistline of more than twenty-one thousand males and females in age group forty to seventy, for several years and tracked how many developed age-related macular degeneration-AMD. There is proof that chronic swelling is occupied in AMD and obesity is pro-inflammatory state.
Their study highlights the significance of abdominal obesity as risk aspect for AMD. The results of study showed that even small alterations in waistline of males, escorted to a sharp rise in risk. However Australian team found that for every increase in waistline in male odds of developing AMD raised by seventy-five percent.
Their study supported the earlier study which suggested that diet was vital aspect in the possibility of AMD. The study found that eating ten portions or more of red meat a week elevated the risk by half in adults. But tucking into chicken three times a week appeared to more than halve the risk of blindness.
About ninety percent of cases engross dry AMD, a form of the disease that comes on slowly over several years and for which there is no treatment. The treatments of AMD include monthly injections into the back of the eye of drugs designed to restrain the growth of abnormal blood vessels. Given early can prevent complete loss of vision.