Eye acuity may predict dementia 12 years prior to diagnosis

However, vision changes associated with dementia are more specific and more complicated than requiring a renewal of glasses prescriptions. In addition to what research finds, it's something that doctors want you to know.

What did this study find?

For this study, researchers have pursued 8,623 healthy people in Norfolk, England for several years. At the end of the study, 537 participants had been diagnosed with dementia.

At the start of the study, the researchers asked participants to take a visual sensitivity test that measures visual processing speed (i.e., how long it takes the brain to analyze and judge vision). During the test, participants were asked to watch the screen and press a button as soon as they saw the triangle shape in a moving dot field.

Researchers found that participants who were ultimately diagnosed with dementia (12 years later, a triangle may form slower than employees who were ultimately not diagnosed.

“Combining visual processing tests with other neuropsychological tests could improve the identification of future dementia risk,” the researchers wrote in their conclusions.

Why is visual sensitivity related to dementia?

Again, it is important to point out that this is more complicated than getting glasses or a stronger prescription. “This is not something that will be fixed with glasses.” Clifford Segill. doa neurologist at Providence St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “It's about memory and recall.”

However, there are some potentials that may be behind the development of dementia because of slow visual sensitivity. One is that amyloid plaques, a protein common in people with Alzheimer's disease, can affect brain regions associated with vision before they affect memory, the researchers explained. press release. As a result, these changes may appear first during visual testing.

Dementia can also affect the ability to see contrast and communicate similar color differences, researchers noted. Previous research I found that people with dementia struggle to ignore visual distractions when they see something.

Essentially, dementia can affect multiple areas of vision, and these signs can appear before memory problems surface.

However, vision is not a general focus on dementia prevention and screening, Dr. Segill said. Instead, hearing is often addressed when you think about it. the study We found that using hearing aids can slow cognitive decline in people at high risk of developing dementia.

“We try to send people out for hearing tests on a daily basis, but we don't send new glasses,” says Dr. Segill. Still, Dr. Segill emphasizes that the test looks better at visual processing issues. In other words, it is the way the brain interprets what the eyes are seeing.

Is this part of a typical eye exam?

At this point, no. “The main things we are looking for are signs of high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure. [raise the risk of] Dementia over time,” says Baband Yousefzadeh. Global Lasik and Cateract Institute In Huntington Beach, California

However, Dr. Youssefzadeh said that visual sensitivity tests could become more common over time with more research. “I think it will be a region that we will explore more in the future,” he says.

Other signs of dementia

Dementia is usually considered a memory problem, but it points out that there are many different types of memory. Amit Sachdev, MD, MSmedical director of the Department of Neurology at Michigan State University. “The early signs of dementia are based on the type of memory that is initially affected,” he says.

These are considered some of the more common symptoms of dementia. National Institute of Aging (NIA):

• You experience memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion
• Problems to speak, understand, express ideas, or read and write
• Wandering in a familiar area and getting lost
• You will have a hard time processing your money responsibly and paying your bills
• Repeated questions
• Use rare words to refer to familiar objects
• It takes time to complete normal daily tasks
• Losing interest in normal daily activities
• Has hallucinations or delusions or delusions
• Act impulsively
• I don't care about other people's feelings
• Losing movement balance and problems

Dr. Segill says he is most commonly looking for driving and financial issues. “When people get lost, get tickets, have financial problems, or make mistakes, these are two things that they are clinically concerned about,” he says.

Dr. Segill calls the latest findings “interesting,” but emphasizes the need to pursue more visual sensitivity to see how this can help patients in real life. “There's more work to be done in this area,” he says.