Hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes could lead to vision loss

DUBLIN, Ireland According to a new study, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels appear to be risk factors for retinal vein occlusion, a condition that causes vision loss.

The study compared data from over 2,900 individuals with retinal vein occlusion and over 28,600 patients without the condition. The results showed that, of patients with retinal vein occlusion, 63.6 percent had hypertension, compared with 36.2 percent of people in the controlled group who did not have the condition.

High cholesterol levels were more than twice as common among patients with retinal vein occlusion as those without, 35.1 percent vs. 16.7 percent, and those with high cholesterol levels had about a 2.5-fold high risk of retinal vein occlusion. Diabetes was slightly more prevalent among those with retinal vein occlusion than among those without, 14.6 percent vs. 11.1 percent.

“The pronounced population attributable risk percentage for hypertension (nearly 50 percent), hyperlipidemia (20 percent) and diabetes (5 percent) in persons with retinal vein occlusion, if causal, would mean that treatment of these diseases might be important in the primary and secondary prevention of retinal vein occlusion,” the authors wrote. “Accordingly, we recommend that an assessment of blood pressure and both fasting lipid and glucose levels be routinely performed in adults with any form of retinal vein occlusion.”

In addition, “those who treat patients with systemic hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia should consider that each poses a risk not only to cardiovascular health but also to ocular health,” they conclude.