NIH Database Demonstrates Increased Risk of Dementia in Those With AMD

Individuals with AMD had higher odds of any dementia in unadjusted and fully adjusted models. Click image to enlarge. With age-related macular degeneration (AMD) sharing several clinical and pathological features with neurological disease, one new study based out of UCLA in Los Angeles presented at ARVO has explored the former disease and dementia using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Research Program. In this population, the presence of AMD was associated with an increased likelihood of dementia.Presented at ARVO 2025, this cross-sectional study included all research program participants from 2017 to 2022 who had electronic health record data. The primary exposure was a diagnosis of AMD. Of 287,012 overall participants included in the study, 4,732 (1.6%) individuals had any AMD. A secondary exposure was defined as the presence of wet vs. dry AMD. Researchers found that 19.6% of the participants with AMD had the wet subtype and 80.4% had dry AMD. The prevalence of any dementia in the overall participant population was 3,344 (1.2%).Individuals with vs. without AMD had higher odds of any dementia in unadjusted (odds ratio [OR]: 4.47) and fully adjusted models (OR: 1.46). In individuals with AMD, there were no statistically significant associations between wet vs. dry AMD and dementia in both unadjusted (OR: 1.24) and adjusted analyses (OR: 1.12).Those diagnosed with dementia could possibly be less likely to receive eye care, which may have implications for injury prevention, physical and cognitive function and quality of life.The researchers concluded that, “Future studies are needed to examine the potential benefit of dementia screening in patients diagnosed with AMD and whether subjects truly have dementia since poor vision may be causing dementia-like symptoms.”Original abstract content ©2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Yun JS, Santina A, Hou KK, et al. Age-related macular degeneration and dementia: investigating associations in the NIH All of Us Research database. ARVO 2025 annual meeting.