People with dementia present worse visual health parameters than those with a lower degree of cognitive impairment. This is the conclusion of a new article published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports by Fundació ACE research team, resulting from the NORFACE study (Neuro-ophtalmology Research at Fundació ACE).
Marta Marquié, neurologist and project leader, says that "by making an effort for patients with dementia to undergo ophthalmological examinations on a regular basis in order to correct their visual function, we could improve their quality of life and even reduce the burden of their caregivers.”
In this article, which is part of the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions Individual Fellowship, the researchers analyzed a sample of around 1,800 patients with Subjective Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia, assessed at the Foundation’s Diagnostic Unit between 2016 and 2018.
From this sample, experts confirmed that patients with dementia present worse visual acuity, use less optical correction (glasses and contact lenses) and ophthalmological treatments, and undergo less ophthalmological surgeries, than people of others two groups, regardless their age, gender and educational level.
For some years, Fundació ACE supports early detection of the disease, aiming to prevent and diagnose it in its initial phases, when it is feasible to act more effectively. With this goal, one of the lines that are currently being investigated is, precisely, the possible relation between the thickness of the retina and the development of the disease.
Read the full article here.
