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Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological ageing?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wilson, GA; Cheyne, K; Ramrakha, S; Ambler, A; Tan, GS; Caspi, A; Williams, B; Sugden, K; Houts, R; Niederer, RL; Wong, TY; Moffitt, TE; Poulton, R
Published in: Clinical & experimental optometry
January 2023

Macular drusen are associated with age-related maculopathy but are not an ocular manifestation or biomarker of systemic ageing.Macular drusen are the first sign of age-related maculopathy, an eye disease for which age is the strongest risk factor. The aim of this cohort study was to investigate whether macular drusen in midlife - a sign of the earliest stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - are associated with accelerated biological ageing more generally.Members of the long-running Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (hereafter the Dunedin Study, n = 1037) underwent retinal photography at their most recent assessment at the age of 45 years. Images were graded for the presence of AMD using a simplified scale from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). Accelerated ageing was assessed by (i) a measure of Pace of Ageing defined from a combination of clinical and serum biomarkers obtained at ages 26, 32, 38, and 45 years and (ii) Facial Ageing, defined from photographs obtained at age 38 and 45 years.Of the 938 participants who participated at the age 45 assessments, 834 had gradable retinal photographs, and of these 165 (19.8%) had macular drusen. There was no significant difference in Pace of Ageing (p = .743) or Facial Ageing (p = .945) among participants with and without macular drusen.In this representative general population sample, macular drusen in midlife were not associated with accelerated ageing. Future studies tracking longitudinal changes in drusen number and severity at older ages may reveal whether drusen are a biomarker of accelerated ageing.

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Published In

Clinical & experimental optometry

DOI

EISSN

1444-0938

ISSN

0816-4622

Publication Date

January 2023

Volume

106

Issue

1

Start / End Page

41 / 46

Related Subject Headings

  • Retinal Drusen
  • Retina
  • Ophthalmology & Optometry
  • Middle Aged
  • Macular Degeneration
  • Humans
  • Cohort Studies
  • Aging
  • Adult
  • 3212 Ophthalmology and optometry
 

Citation

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Wilson, G. A., Cheyne, K., Ramrakha, S., Ambler, A., Tan, G. S., Caspi, A., … Poulton, R. (2023). Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological ageing? Clinical & Experimental Optometry, 106(1), 41–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2021.2012428
Wilson, Graham A., Kirsten Cheyne, Sandhya Ramrakha, Antony Ambler, Gavin Sw Tan, Avshalom Caspi, Ben Williams, et al. “Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological ageing?Clinical & Experimental Optometry 106, no. 1 (January 2023): 41–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2021.2012428.
Wilson GA, Cheyne K, Ramrakha S, Ambler A, Tan GS, Caspi A, et al. Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological ageing? Clinical & experimental optometry. 2023 Jan;106(1):41–6.
Wilson, Graham A., et al. “Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological ageing?Clinical & Experimental Optometry, vol. 106, no. 1, Jan. 2023, pp. 41–46. Epmc, doi:10.1080/08164622.2021.2012428.
Wilson GA, Cheyne K, Ramrakha S, Ambler A, Tan GS, Caspi A, Williams B, Sugden K, Houts R, Niederer RL, Wong TY, Moffitt TE, Poulton R. Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological ageing? Clinical & experimental optometry. 2023 Jan;106(1):41–46.
Journal cover image

Published In

Clinical & experimental optometry

DOI

EISSN

1444-0938

ISSN

0816-4622

Publication Date

January 2023

Volume

106

Issue

1

Start / End Page

41 / 46

Related Subject Headings

  • Retinal Drusen
  • Retina
  • Ophthalmology & Optometry
  • Middle Aged
  • Macular Degeneration
  • Humans
  • Cohort Studies
  • Aging
  • Adult
  • 3212 Ophthalmology and optometry