Lower AMD Risk Found in Those Prescribed NSAIDs

Patients with multiple comorbidities may be subject to more frequent medical follow-up and closer monitoring, thereby increasing the likelihood of detecting both NSAID use and AMD outcomes. Click image to enlarge. While there is no cure for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), current best practice guidelines recommend lifestyle modifications for patients, such as smoking cessation and the use of vitamin supplements, alongside anti-VEGF injections for those with wet AMD. Given the central role of inflammation in the degenerative processes of both nonexudative and exudative AMD, researchers based in Taiwan have been led to believe it is plausible that aspirin and other NSAIDs, through their anti-inflammatory properties, may reduce the risk of both AMD subtypes. Their recent study identified a decreased risk of AMD among NSAID users compared to non-users.This retrospective study, which was published in Ophthalmology, included patients who received prescriptions for NSAIDs and individuals who never received prescriptions for NSAIDs in order to assess the effects of NSAID prescriptions on future AMD risk. The cohort consisted of 634,794 patients who were prescribed NSAIDs (mean age 59.93) and 634,794 patients who weren’t prescribed NSAIDs (mean age 59.68).Among NSAID users, decreased risk for AMD development was seen at the six-month (hazard ratio; HR: 0.31), one-year (HR: 0.36), three-year (HR: 0.42) and five-year (HR: 0.48) time points after the index date for NSAID use compared to non-NSAID users. The researchers observed a protective effect against AMD development throughout the entire study duration (HR: 0.58) among NSAID users compared to non-NSAID users. A protective effect against AMD development was also observed during the study duration among patients who were prescribed aspirin (HR: 0.72) and those prescribed non-selective COX-2 inhibitors (HR: 0.41) compared to their respective non-users. A decreased risk for AMD was also observed for both non-exudative (HR: 0.56) and exudative (HR: 0.62) AMD subtypes after index NSAID prescription compared to non-users.NSAID users with comorbidities such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, lipid metabolism disorders, obesity, atherosclerosis, other peripheral vascular diseases, cerebrovascular disease, COPD, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis also exhibited a decreased risk of AMD.“It remains unclear whether elevated inflammatory levels associated with these comorbidities may have contributed to the development of AMD that is more responsive to inflammation-modifying agents like NSAIDs,” the study authors wrote in their paper.Click here for the source. Hsu AY, Kuo HT, Liu Dy, et al. NSAID use and the risk of AMD: insights from a multi-center cohort analysis. Ophthalmology. May 1, 2026. [Epub ahead of print].  This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.