ARVO
Fort Lauderdale, FL - Researches have determined that patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who give up activities they enjoy - whether cognitive, social or physical - expierenice cognitive decline. The research is being presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology on Sunday, April 27th, 11 am-12.45pm in Hall B/C of the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.
The three-year longitudinal sutdy included 206 nondemented patients with AMD. Of these, 23 subjects (14.4%) declined cognitively during the course of the study.
At baseline, they had relinquished significantly more cognitive, physical or social activities than subjects who remained cognitiviely stable (p=0.0001). Subjects who had dropped four or five activities were 8.2 times more likely to decline than those who had dropped no or only one activiey. The number of dropped activities was a powerful predictor of cognitive decline after controlling for relevant risk factors.
The researchers, from the Wills Eye Institue, in Philadelphia, PA concluded: "These data emphasize the importance of promoting optimal cognitive and physical health in patients with AMD and perhaps other chronic diseases."
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