Open angle glaucoma has been identified as a risk factor for stroke, but recently researchers have tightened this connection. They analyzed information from the over 1 million patients identified in the Taiwan National Health Insurance database, comparing over 4000 patients with OAG to over 20,000 patients without the condition – the data came from a 5 year period.
Almost 15% of the patients identified as having OAG had strokes within the 5 years; only 9.5% of the non-OAG patients had strokes in the 5 year period.
The researchers adjusted the data for demographics and found that OAG patients were 1 1/2 times as likely to suffer a stroke within that time span.
A later study by Dustin French, PhD substantiated this information.
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SOURCE: “Open-Angle Glaucoma and the Risk of Stroke Development. A 5-Year Population-Based Follow-Up Study”, Ho, et al, PubMed, 2009 May 21, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19461039
Researchers: Jau-Der Ho and associates, Taipei Medical University in Taipei, Taiwan
