Age-related Macular Degeneration and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke: The Cardiovascular Health Study

PurposeTo examine the associations of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke in the Cardiovascular Health Study.DesignPopulation-based prospective cohort study.ParticipantsA total of 1786 white and African-American participants free of CHD or 2228 participants free of stroke, aged 69 to 97 years.MethodsAMD was evaluated from photographs taken in 1997 and 1998.Main Outcome MeasuresIncident CHD and stroke ascertained using standardized methods.ResultsOf the 1786 persons free of CHD, 303 developed incident CHD over 7 years. Participants with early AMD (n = 277) had a higher cumulative incidence of CHD than participants without early AMD (25.8% vs. 18.9%, P = 0.001). By adjusting for age, gender, race, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hypertension status, fasting glucose, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, cigarette smoking, pack years of smoking, and C-reactive protein, the presence of early AMD was associated with an increased risk of incident CHD (hazard ratio 1.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.17–2.22). Late AMD (n = 25) was not associated with incident CHD (hazard ratio 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.25–2.48). Among 2228 persons at risk, 198 developed incident stroke; neither early nor late AMD was associated with incident stroke.ConclusionsThis study suggests persons with early AMD have a higher risk of CHD but not stroke in a population aged 69 to 97 years. This provides further support that AMD is associated with underlying systemic vascular disease.Financial Disclosure(s)The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.