Through a small study US researchers linked damage to retina with decline in brain function. Therefore investigation of the back of eye could offer an insight into the health h of the brain. The think that problem related to blood supply could cause damage to eye as well as brain.
Retinopathy is the eye condition, for which researchers were investigating and is common in patients suffering high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes. Any damage to retina can in the long run escort to blindness. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, followed more than five hundred women aged sixty-five and above for the period of ten years.
About forty women were diagnosed with retinopathy. Study participants, those with the eye condition inclined to have lower scores in the test of brain function, including memory and abstract reasoning exams. Brain scans of subjects with retinopathy also revealed more areas of damaged brain tissue and ischemic lesions. The study was published in the journal Neurology.
Lead author Dr Mary Haan, stated problems with the minute blood vessels in the eye may be a sign that there are also problems with the blood vessels in the brain which can lead to cognitive problems. This could be very useful if simple eye screening could provide an early indication that people might be at risk of problems with their brain health and functioning.
Much larger studies would be required to spot if the findings could be used as a clinical test for declining brain function. Head of Alzheimer’s Research UK, Dr Simon Ridley, sated precise early discovery of the cognitive decline which may be associated with dementia could unchain the ability to treat it.
This piece of study offers inklings for another potential route doctors could consider when checking for the signs of cognitive decline. This study adds to growing evidence linking vascular health to cognitive decline, and underlines the importance of looking after your hearts, added Dr Ridley.