Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:To evaluate serum cholesterol level as a risk factor for advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). Methods:Serum cholesterol was measured at baseline in participants at 4 of 11 AREDS clinical centers. Participants age 55-80 years at risk of developing advanced AMD (those with large drusen, noncentral geographic atrophy, or advanced AMD or vision loss due to AMD in one eye at baseline) were followed for an average of 6.3 years for progression to advanced AMD. Advanced AMD was graded from stereo color fundus photographs. Age and gender-adjusted Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the association of cholesterol with the development of advanced AMD among the 203 participants with serum samples who were at risk for advanced AMD in the untreated (placebo) group. Results:Median total serum cholesterol was 220 mg/dl (20th percentile, 186 mg/dl; 80th percentile, 252 mg/dl). The age and gender-adjusted relative risk (RR) of advanced AMD was: total cholesterol, RR=1.02 (95% CI: 0.80-1.30; for each 40 unit increase); HDL, RR=0.92 (95% CI: 0.68-1.24; for each 20 unit increase); LDL, RR=1.07 (95% CI: 0.84-1.35; for each 35 unit increase). These results did not change appreciably when adjusting for a five or more year use of cholesterol lowering medications, or including participants receiving active treatments (antioxidants and/or zinc) and adjusting for treatment. Conclusion:We found no evidence of an association between baseline serum cholesterol levels and development of advanced AMD.
Keywords: 308 age-related macular degeneration • 355 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment