Approved Research

Associations of lifestyle risk factors, ocular diseases, and mental disorders.

Lay summary

Aims: We aim to determine the specific risk factors for myopia, cataract, and age-related macular degeneration, and further explore the association between these ocular diseases and mental disorders including dementia and depression.

Scientific rationale: Myopia, cataract, and age-related macular degeneration were three main ocular diseases as the leading causes of vision loss worldwide, affecting nearly two-thirds of the populations all over the world. The lifestyles may have some impact on these vision-threatening ocular diseases, and their abnormal visual experience may also result in mental disorders. However, the risk factors for and associations with mental disorders for these vision-threatening ocular diseases remained largely unknown.

Therefore, we will compare baseline characteristics, consumption of caffeine, tea, milk, and oil, outdoor activities, and circadian rhythms in subjects with and without myopia, cataract, and age-related macular degeneration. Furthermore, associations between myopia, cataract, or age-related macular degeneration and incidence of dementia and depression, cognitive test scores, brain magnetic resonanceiImaging (MRI) outcomes, and functional MRI outcomes will be further evaluated.

Project duration: 3 years.

Public health impact: Our work may lead to guidance on lifestyle choices of caffeine, tea, milk, or oil intake, outdoor activity, and day/sleep cycle that will minimize the risk of developing vision-threatening ocular diseases, and also provide information on whether vision-threatening ocular diseases may result in a higher incidence of cognitive impairment and depression.