Medicosnext
The retina offers an accessible window to assess underlying pathological processes of systemic vascular and neurological diseases that are linked to increased mortality risk. A new first-of-its-kind study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology says that the retina could provide an easy way to determine true biological age, which may be different from the chronological age. Analyzing over 130,000 retinal images of people aged 40 to 69, the researchers found that there was a “retinal age gap” between actual biological eye health and chronological age. The study found that, for each year of difference between a person’s actual age and the older biological age identified in the eye, there was a 2% increase in the risk of death from any cause. Larger gaps of three, five, and 10 years were associated with up to a 67% higher risk of death from specific diseases. The research indicates that retinal age gap is an independent predictor of increased mortality risk, especially of non-cardiovascular disease and non-cancer mortality, and that retinal age may be a clinically significant biomarker of aging.
