A recent study published in the International Journal of Retina and Vitreous sheds light on the potential link between iris freckles and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Iris photographs were taken of 300 eyes of 300 patients who had a diagnosis of AMD as well as 300 eyes of 300 healthy participants. Researchers evaluated the photographs and classified them based on the Descriptive Iris Color Classification Scale.
The average age of both sets of participants was around 73. 66.7% of the patients in the AMD group presented with freckles compared to 47.3% presenting with freckles in the control group. Freckles were not found in 33.3% of the AMD group compared to 52.7% in the control group who did not have freckles. The study results revealed that there was a notable higher presence of iris freckles in the AMD group compared to the control group.
Iris freckles appear more frequently in older people rather than young adults. Iris freckles are linked to chronic sunlight exposure and researchers believe that the presence of iris freckles may be an indicator of a high cumulative dose of sunlight. Researchers state that the presence of iris freckles can be used as a biomarker for AMD.
