Patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are much more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to a study published in Scientific Reports.
The large cohort study involved over 2 million South Koreans. Researchers were investigating the risk of RA in patients with AMD with and without visual disability. The study broke the patients into three groups. One group had patients with AMD without visual disability; the second group consisted of AMD patients with visual disability and then the third group consisted of those without AMD. The participants had health checkups beginning in 2009 and continued through 2019. RA diagnoses were tracked during this study time.
The results revealed that 1.24% of the study group received a diagnosis of RA and the risk of RA was higher in the AMD group regardless of the visual disability status. Further analysis of the AMD group demonstrated that the AMD patients with visual disability were at a higher risk of RA even after allowing for lifestyle and comorbidity factors.
