Study says regular use of aspirin is associated with eye disease

A research study has shown that regular use of aspirin is linked to more than two-fold increase in the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, that’s the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

This was stated by researchers of Millennium Institute for Medical Research in Sydney. The Institute’s Centre for Vision Research studied 2,389 people over a 15-year period and discovered 63 developed neovascular or late-stage, AMD.

The centre’s director Professor Paul Mitchell said 9.3% of the regular aspirin users in the study developed the condition after 15 years compared to 3.7% of those who did not take aspirin on regular basis.  

According to Prof Mitchell, the study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, could not conclude aspirin was the cause of the AMD."It would therefore be premature for clinicians to change their practice around recommending aspirin use. He said, “Aspirin has been put forward as something than just about everyone should take," he said.  “It’s findings like this that suggest we should be cautious about going down that path.” He also said, the three other international studies had found similar results suggesting a link between regular aspirin use and AMD. It could be that the conditions such as heart issues for which people took aspirin were related to macular degeneration.

He also adds that more vigorous studies were needed to test the findings further. Aspirin has shown to benefit in preventing of recurrent heart disease, including heart attack and stroke and is one of the most widely used medications worldwide, with more than 100 billion tablets consumed each year.

Aspirin is also known as acetylsalicylic acid, is also a salicylate -drug used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains. It is also used as an antipyretic to reduce fever. Besides, it is also used as an anti-inflammatory medication.