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Are 女性 at Higher Risk for Macular Degeneration?

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Are 女性 at Higher Risk for Macular Degeneration?

2014年4月17日

Many have thought that men were the ones who generally get macular degeneration, 但事实恰恰相反. Studies have shown that women are more likely to have loss of eyesight due to aging. Dr. Margaret DeAngelis from the Moran Eye Center tells you why. She also talks about potential risk factors and how to prevent age-related macular degeneration.

事件记录

面试官: Are women more likely to get macular degeneration than men? We'll examine that next on 范围.

播音员: Medical news and research from University of Utah physicians and specialists you can use for a happier and healthier life. You're listening to 范围.

面试官: Dr. Margaret DeAngelis is at the Moran Eye Institute. She also is on the Utah 女性's Eye Health Board. Let's talk about women and macular degeneration. Maybe I'm wrong on this. I kind of thought generally it was men that got it, but that's not the case.

Dr. 玛格丽特·DeAngelis: No. 女性, it's actually been shown, in two studies done ten years apart from each other in what's called a meta analysis where you combine all the studies that are out there, that women are at higher risk of getting age-related macular degeneration than men. Now, why is that you might ask.

面试官: 这是为什么??

Dr. 玛格丽特·DeAngelis: 这是为什么?? 嗯,大发娱乐不确定. 所以有些人, some groups have looked at that it may be due to hormone replacement therapy or estrogen that increases one's risk so certain groups are studying that. Some groups have found an association while other groups have not so there's a lack of consistency from study to study. So we still don't have the answer for why women are at risk. Some people have argued that maybe women are more inclined to join studies, 报名参加学习, but that hasn't been the answer either. Or maybe women smoke more cigarettes or these other things, but after you've controlled for all these external factors, there hasn't been the answer there so we're still looking for the reason for why women are at a slightly higher risk. And we do know that genetics plays a strong role but that is equally so in men and women so what that means is if you have a first degree relative, either a parent or a sibling, 兄弟或姐妹, with age-related macular degeneration, you're at six to twelve times higher risk than somebody from the general population of getting age-related macular degeneration yourself. So it's highly recommended if you have a family member with age-related macular degeneration you should get your eyes checked age 50 and over at least once a year.

面试官: Six to twelve times more. Put that in perspective for me in relation to other things like smoking which has also been shown to cause macular degeneration or a relationship. How much does that increase my risk?

Dr. 玛格丽特·DeAngelis: 这取决于. Different groups including our group have shown that that's based on the number of pack year so if you smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for one year, the more cigarettes you've smoked or pack years your risk increases exponentially, and smoking by everybody has been shown to increase risk.

面试官: 让你.

Dr. 玛格丽特·DeAngelis: Please understand that that increases your risk, you're susceptibility. It doesn't mean that you will get the disease because you have a first degree relative or you smoked cigarettes. It means your susceptibility has increased. That's a difference between susceptibility and causality.

面试官: Is the direct relative susceptibility? Are we talking susceptibility if I have a first...?

Dr. 玛格丽特·DeAngelis: We're talking it increases your susceptibility, correct.

面试官: How significant is six to twelve times more susceptible? Put that in a perspective for me. Is it like, "Oh wow, that's a lot. 这是可怕的. Like you should go see the eye doctor right now."

Dr. 玛格丽特·DeAngelis: 6到12点太多了. If you're 50 years old and older, the American Academy of Ophthamology recommends that.

播音员: We're your daily dose of science, conversation, medicine. This is 范围, the University of Utah Health Sciences radio.