According to a Korean study, it would be possible to limit the risk of suffering from Alzheimer's disease by correcting your sight problems.
If the link between the two phenomena is not yet clearly established, the excess risk could come from a lack of cerebral plasticity, as explained by the European doctor 1 Jimmy Mohamed.
Is seeing well the secret to keeping memory?
A Korean study shows that patients over 40 who had visual disturbances have a 50% increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
As Dr Jimmy Mohamed specifies on Europe 1, the link between the two phenomena is not yet clearly established but it is possible that it is of the same tenor as that which links hearing and Alzheimer's.
In this second case, stimulation of brain plasticity is the key to reducing the intensity of this pathology or to delaying its onset.
Seeing less well could limit brain plasticity
"We do not know exactly what is the link between these alterations in vision and the development of the disease", warns doctor Jimmy Mohamed.
However, this echoes a pattern already observed with another sense organ.
Science has shown that hearing loss can promote the onset of Alzheimer's.
As he explains, "we now know that if we take two patients with the same brain lesions from Alzheimer's disease, they will not express the disease in the same way. They will not have the same symptoms" .
>> Find all of Jimmy Mohamed's advice in replay and podcast here
As Dr Jimmy Mohamed further explains, "the brain needs stimulation, new connections, this is called cerebral plasticity".
What happens with hearing loss and seeing less well could limit this plasticity.
Individually, behaviors can therefore have an influence on the age at which the disease occurs and the intensity of symptoms.
By going to see if you or your loved ones are suffering from vision problems that could be repaired, you can ultimately reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.