Regular Aspirin Use Linked to Age-Related Eye Disease

Some people take low dose aspirin daily for cardiovascular health. New research indicates that this benefit needs to be reevaluated in light of an increased risk of of macular degeneration. If you have risk factors for macular degeneration and are on aspirin therapy, talk to your doctor.

“The cumulative incidence of neovascular AMD among nonregular aspirin users was 0.8 percent at five years, 1.6 percent at 10 years, and 3.7 percent at 15 years,” said study co-author Prof Paul Mitchell of the Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research’s Centre for Vision Research.

“Among regular aspirin users, the cumulative incidence was 1.9 percent at five years, 7 percent at 10 years and 9.3 percent at 15 years, respectively, indicating that regular aspirin use is significantly associated with an increased incidence of neovascular AMD. This increase was around 2.5-fold, after accounting for potentially confounding variables.”

The scientists noted that any decision concerning whether to stop aspirin therapy is “complex and needs to be individualized.”