Socioeconomic Factors Increase Risk for Age-Related Macular Degeneration
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
.jpg?width=1200)
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 25, 2024 -- Socioeconomic factors are linked to an increased risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study published online July 1 in Health Data Science.
Yanlin Qu, from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and colleagues investigated whether low socioeconomic status (SES) increases the risk for AMD and explored the effect of a healthy lifestyle on this association. The analysis included data from 316,663 participants in the U.K. Biobank.
The researchers found that during an average 12.2 years of follow-up, 6,355 AMD cases were diagnosed. There was an increased risk for incident AMD among participants with medium SES (hazard ratio, 1.10) and low SES (hazard ratio, 1.22) compared with participants with high SES. This association was significantly affected by physical activity. Smoking also significantly mediated the association between low SES and AMD (11.3 percent). Alcohol consumption suppressed (9.59 percent) the association between high SES and AMD. A significant joint effect of SES and healthy lifestyle score was found.
"Our study identified a significant association between SES inequality and the incidence of AMD. Notably, the relationship was influenced by lifestyle behaviors," lead author Huixun Jia, from Shanghai General Hospital, said in a statement. "Our findings underscore the universal benefits of positive lifestyle adjustments. Encouraging physical activity and smoking cessation among individuals with low SES, and reducing alcohol consumption among high SES groups, could mitigate their susceptibility to AMD."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted September 2024
Read this next
Helping Others Linked to Higher Level of Cognitive Function
THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 -- Helping others, both via formal volunteering and informal helping, is associated with higher levels of cognitive function and slower cognitive decline...
TAR-200 Monotherapy Promising for BCG-Unresponsive Bladder Cancer
THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 -- For patients with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), an intravesical...
Work-Related Income Drops for Parents of Children Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes
THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 -- Work-related income decreases sharply for mothers and fathers of children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, with similar effects across sociodemographic...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.