Doctors consider a variety of factors to determine a
person's risk of experiencing cardiovascular events, including age, smoking
history, and blood pressure. But changes to the blood vessels in the back of
the eye may make for a more accurate prediction.
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research suggests that eyes may hold the key to cardiovascular health.
They say that the eyes are the window to the soul. But,
according to a team of researchers, they may also be the window to the heart.
Previous research has identified a link between changes in
the eye and hypertension in
adults, and similar retinal changes and high blood pressure in children.
"The data that we have is very clear that at a very
early age, in children 6 to 8 years old who are otherwise healthy, you can
already see vascular alterations due to blood pressure levels
that are on the high end of normal," says Dr. Henner Hanssen, professor of
preventive sports medicine and systems physiology at the
University of Basel, Switzerland.
"We don't know if this predicts worse outcomes when
they become adults, but we have seen similar alterations in adults that are
predictive of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity," he continues.
Millions
of blood vessel measurements
This study is the largest to look at the relationship
between the eye and cardiovascular diseases and has produced the most
dependable measurements. It appears in the American Heart Association's Hypertension journal.
The study found that small blood vessels at the rear of the
eye were affected by artery stiffness and increased blood pressure.
As lead author professor Alicia Rudnicka from London's St.
George's University in the United Kingdom explains: "If what's happening
in the rest of the body is reflected in what's happening at the back of the
eye, what we see there could be a flag, taking retinal morphology assessment from
being just a research tool to incorporating it into clinical practice."
Almost 55,000 elderly or middle-aged people from the UK Biobank study
formed the data set for the new research, and in total, the team had access to
3.5 million blood vessel sections.
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n automated program examined digital images of each
participants' retinal blood vessels, providing the team with measurements
relating to blood vessel diameter and curvature.
The
retinal link to heart disease
Analysis of these found that greater curvature of the
retinal arteries equated to higher pulse pressure,
higher average artery pressure during a heartbeat, and higher systolic blood
pressure, which is the pressure that occurs when the heart contracts.
This was not the only finding. The team also noticed a
relationship between greater stiffness in artery walls, higher mean arterial
pressure, and narrowing of the retinal blood vessels.
None of these retinal effects impact a person's vision, but
they "could potentially tell us very quickly whether you are on the road
to cardiovascular disease," according to Prof. Rudnicka.
"What we have now is one piece of the puzzle," she
adds.
"If
we can link the retinal vessel measurements of the past to what happens to
these people years later, this will tell us whether these vessel changes came
before cardiovascular disease and go on to predict those who go on to have a
cardiovascular event."
Prof.
Alicia Rudnicka
The team's next study aims to determine whether these
measurements can predict heart disease in
the same person a decade later.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of deathTrusted Source globally. Currently,
experts estimateTrusted Source a person's risk factor using a
range of factors, including age, sex, blood cholesterol levels, and blood
pressure.
Prof. Rudnicka's future study results may determine whether
the eye becomes part of that list.
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