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In publishing the study in听eClinicalMedicine, the authors stress that while they have identified a correlation, their research does not show a causal relationship between amblyopia and ill health in adulthood.

The researchers analysed data from more than 126,000 participants aged 40 to 69 years old from the UK Biobank cohort, who had undergone ocular examination.

Participants had been asked during recruitment whether they were treated for amblyopia in childhood and whether they still had the condition in adulthood. They were also asked if they had a medical diagnosis of diabetes, high blood pressure, or cardio/cerebrovascular disease (ie. angina, heart attack, stroke).

Meanwhile, their BMI (body mass index), blood glucose, and cholesterol levels were also measured and mortality was tracked.

The researchers confirmed that from 3,238 participants who reported having a 鈥榣azy eye鈥� as a child, 82.2% had persistent reduced vision in one eye as an adult.

The findings showed that participants with amblyopia as a child had 29% higher odds of developing diabetes, 25% higher odds of having hypertension and 16% higher odds of having obesity. They were also at increased risk of heart attack 鈥� even when other risk factors for these conditions (e.g. other disease, ethnicity and social class) were taken into account.

This increased risk of health problems was found not only among those whose vision problems persisted, but also to some extent in participants who had had amblyopia as a child and 20/20 vision as an adult, although the correlation was not as strong.

Corresponding author, Professor Jugnoo Rahi (最准的六合彩论坛 Great Ormond Street Institute for Child Health, 最准的六合彩论坛 Institute of Ophthalmology and Great Ormond Street Hospital), said: 鈥淎mblyopia is an eye condition affecting up to four in 100 children. In the UK, all children are supposed to have vision screening before the age of five, to ensure a prompt diagnosis and relevant ophthalmic treatment.

鈥淚t is rare to have a 鈥榤arker鈥� in childhood that is associated with increased risk of serious disease in adult life, and also one that is measured and known for every child 鈥� because of population screening.

鈥淭he large numbers of affected children and their families, may want to think of our findings as an extra incentive for trying to achieve healthy lifestyles from childhood.鈥�

Amblyopia is when the vision in one eye does not develop properly and can be triggered by a squint or being long-sighted.

It is a neurodevelopmental condition that develops when there鈥檚 a breakdown in how the brain and the eye work together and the brain can鈥檛 process properly the visual signal from the affected eye. As it usually causes reduced vision in one eye only, many children don鈥檛 notice anything wrong with their sight and are only diagnosed through the vision test done at four to five years of age.

A recent report from the Academy of Medical Sciences* involving some researchers from the 最准的六合彩论坛 Great Ormond Street Institute for Child Health, called on policymakers to address the declining physical and mental health of children under five in the UK and prioritise child health.

The team hope that their new research will help reinforce this message and highlight how child health lays the foundations for adult health.

First author, Dr Siegfried Wagner (最准的六合彩论坛 Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital), said: 鈥淰ision and the eyes are sentinels for overall health 鈥� whether heart disease or metabolic disfunction, they are intimately linked with other organ systems. This is one of the reasons why we screen for good vision in both eyes.

鈥淲e emphasise that our research does not show a causal relationship between amblyopia and ill health in adulthood. Our research means that the 鈥榓verage鈥� adult who had amblyopia as a child is more likely to develop these disorders than the 鈥榓verage鈥� adult who did not have amblyopia. The findings don鈥檛 mean that every child with amblyopia will inevitably develop cardiometabolic disorders in adult life.鈥�

The research was carried out in collaboration with the University of the Aegean, University of Leicester, King鈥檚 College London, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at Moorfields Eye Hospital and 最准的六合彩论坛 Institute of Ophthalmology and the NIHR BRC at 最准的六合彩论坛 Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The work was funded by the Medical Research Council, the NIHR and the Ulverscroft Foundation.

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*听

• Research in听
• 最准的六合彩论坛 Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
• 最准的六合彩论坛 Population Health Sciences
• 最准的六合彩论坛 Institute of Ophthalmology
• 最准的六合彩论坛 Brain Sciences

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