3 common eye problems may indicate dementia years before a diagnosis

You may want to keep an eye on the blood vessels at the back of your peepers — they could reveal if you’re likely to develop dementia.

Dementia — the progressive decline in cognitive abilities, impacting memory, language and reasoning — affects more than 6 million Americans and accounts for over 100,000 deaths each year.

Researchers from New Zealand identified certain eye problems that may serve as early warning signs of dementia, possibly even before more traditional symptoms emerge.

“In our study, we looked at the retina, which is directly connected to the brain,” co-lead author Ashleigh Barrett-Young of the University of Otago said about the thin layer of tissue at the back of the eyeball.

“It’s thought that many of the disease processes in Alzheimer’s are reflected in the retina,” she continued, “making it a good target as a biomarker to identify people at risk of developing dementia.”

Barrett-Young’s team delved into eye scan data from a long-running New Zealand study.

They found a link between greater dementia risk and narrower arterioles (small blood vessels that transport blood away from the heart), wider venules (small veins that play a key role in returning blood to the heart) and thinner retinal nerve fiber layers (which transmit visual signals from the retina to the brain).

These issues can manifest as blurry vision or vision loss. That’s why it’s important to see a doctor about any vision changes.

Vision problems have long been linked to cognitive decline, particularly in older adults.

A study last year found that visual sensitivity tests can potentially predict dementia up to 12 years before a formal diagnosis.

Diagnosing dementia can be complicated because there’s no single definitive test.

Cognitive assessments, brain scans and blood tests are often used to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia.

“I was surprised that venules were associated with so many different domains of Alzheimer’s disease — that suggests that it might be a particularly useful target for assessing dementia risk,” Barrett-Young said.

The findings were published last month in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

“This research is still in an early stage, and we can’t predict your future looking at an eye scan,” Barrett-Young said.

“Hopefully, one day we’ll be able to use AI methods on eye scans to give you an indication of your brain health, but we’re not there yet.”