Global Courant
As climate change continues to warm the planet, another consequence may be headed our way: Higher temperatures are associated with a higher likelihood of low vision, according to a new study.
Canadian researchers found that American adults aged 65 and older are much more likely to have severe visual impairment if they live in warmer regions than their peers who live in cooler regions.
It is the first large-scale study to look at the link between higher temperatures and vision problems, authors say.
They looked at average temperatures in U.S. counties and found that the likelihood of serious vision problems was 44 percent higher for those who lived in counties where the average temperature was above 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 C), compared to those living in the coolest regions. provinces lived.
“This association between low vision and the average temperature in the province is of great concern if future research proves the association to be causal,” said Esme Fuller-Thomson, director of the Institute of Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto and first author of the research. said in a press release. “With climate change, we expect an increase in global temperatures. It will be important to monitor whether the prevalence of low vision in older adults increases in the future.”
The study, which was published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Ophthalmic Epidemiologydrew from a data pool of more than 1.7 million Americans.
The link between temperature and low vision persisted even when researchers took into account age, gender, income and education level of the participants.
“It was powerful to see that the link between low vision and temperature was consistent across so many demographic factors, including income,” said Elysia Fuller-Thomson, a graduate student at the University of Toronto and one of the study’s co-authors. Edition.
To track low vision and compare it to temperature, researchers looked to the American Community Survey, looking at data collected between 2012 and 2017 through email, phone, and in-person interviews. The survey, which targeted adults age 65 and older who lived in the same state in which they were born, included a question related to severe visual impairment, allowing participants to indicate whether they were blind or had difficulty seeing, even with glasses.
Researchers then took temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to create averages for the counties included, and compared this data to the vision data.
Provinces with an average temperature of less than 10 C were the coolest provinces in the data set. Researchers found that compared to people in the coolest regions, the risk of serious vision loss was 14 percent higher for people who lived in countries where the average temperature was between 10 and 12.7 C, and 24 percent higher for people in counties between 12 and 12. .7 and 12.7 C. 15.4 C.
While the link existed in all demographics, there were populations for which the association was even stronger. Higher temperatures seemed to correlate more with the likelihood of severe vision loss in men, those aged 65-79 compared to those who were 80 or older, and white Americans compared to black Americans.
Co-author ZhiDi Deng, a recent graduate of pharmacy at the University of Toronto, pointed out that vision loss and impairment can have a huge impact on the lives of those who struggle with it.
“We know that vision problems are a major cause of disability and functional impairment,” Deng said in the release. “Severe visual impairment, for example, can increase the risk of falls and fractures and negatively affect the quality of life of the elderly. Care for low vision and its consequences also costs the American economy tens of billions every year. So this link between temperature and low vision was quite concerning.
While the research seems to show a strong association, it’s still unknown how temperature actually affects our vision.
Researchers theorize that the cause may be due to increased ultraviolet light exposure, air pollution, or folic acid degradation associated with higher temperatures.
However, since this study was only designed to see if there was any connection at all, more research needs to be done to unravel the mechanisms by which towering heat affects our eyeballs, especially given that average temperatures continue to rise across the planet.
Authors noted in their conclusion that “the predicted rise in global temperatures could have implications for older Americans suffering from severe visual impairment and associated health and economic strains.”
Fuller-Thomson said they were “very surprised” by the strong association they found.
“But this new finding introduces more questions than it answers, including what the connection is between average county temperature and low vision.”
She added that the next step for this particular team will be to investigate whether heat is associated with “other disabilities in older adults, such as hearing problems and limitations in daily activities.”
