Is age-related maculopathy associated with Alzheimer's Disease? The Rotterdam Study.
The authors examined the relation between age-related maculopathy and Alzheimer's disease in the Rotterdam Study, a prospective population-based study in the Netherlands. From 1990 to mid-1993, subjects aged 75 years or older (n = 1,438) were screened for the presence of age-related maculopathy and Alzheimer's disease, and follow-up examinations were conducted from mid-1 993 to the end of 1994. Subjects with advanced age-related maculopathy at baseline showed an increased risk of incident Alzheimer's disease (relative risk = 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 4.3; adjusted for age and gender), but this risk decreased after additional adjustment for smoking and atherosclerosis (relative risk = 1.5, 95% confidence interval: 0.6, 3.5). These findings suggest that the neuronal degeneration occurring in age-related maculopathy and Alzheimer's disease may, to some extent, have a common pathogenesis.
Klaver
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CC
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus University Medical School, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Ott
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Hofman
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Assink
J J
JJ
Breteler
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de Jong
P T
PT
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000150:complications; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects