Men with significant abdominal obesity have a 75 per cent increased risk of developing late-stage AMD. Even those with small increases in their waist-to-hip ratio are associated with an increased risk of AMD, according to a report conducted by researchers at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA).
CERA PhD student Dr. Madeleine Adams examined the link in 21,287 men and women aged between 40-69 years of age.
According to Dr. Adams, the increased risk of AMD in the group could be due to the release of oestrogen from abdominal fat.
“Abdominal fat can be thought of as an organ. It’s metabolically active and releases pro-inflammatory chemicals and hormones. This feeds into our hypothesis that AMD is a result of abnormal inflammation,” said Dr. Adams.
We found that the associations between abdominal fat and AMD were weaker in women. This could be due to women being exposed to higher levels of oestrogen during their lifetime and therefore being less sensitive to its effects
“We found that the associations between abdominal fat and AMD were weaker in women. This could be due to women being exposed to higher levels of oestrogen during their lifetime and therefore being less sensitive to its effects,” Dr Adams said.
“The study suggests that keeping yourself trim, through a combination of healthy eating and regular exercise, could reduce your risk of AMD and subsequent vision loss.”