Patient self-report of prior laser treatment reliably indicates presence of severe diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To determine whether patient self-report of prior laser treatment can be used as a reliable tool for assessing the presence of severe diabetic retinopathy.

Design: This was a retrospective study on two groups of diabetic subjects.

Methods: One hundred patients with diabetes were recruited from the general eye and retina clinics at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Relative importance of systemic determinants of retinal arteriolar and venular caliber: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study.

Objective: To examine the relative contributions of systemic cardiovascular factors to retinal arteriolar and venular caliber in men and women and in whites and African Americans.

Methods: In the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, retinal arteriolar caliber (central retinal arteriolar equivalent), and venular caliber (central retinal venular equivalent) were measured from digitized retinal photographs of 8794 participants.

Results: The main systemic determinants of narrower central retinal arteriolar equivalent were, in order of relative decreasing contribution, higher current mean arterial blood pressure, lower serum albumin level, current alcohol consumption, and higher body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared).

Physical activity, white blood cell count, and lung cancer risk in a prospective cohort study.

Previous studies have suggested that physical activity may lower lung cancer risk. The association of physical activity with reduced chronic inflammation provides a potential mechanism, yet few studies have directly related inflammatory markers to cancer incidence. The relation among physical activity, inflammation, and lung cancer risk was evaluated in a prospective cohort of 4,831 subjects, 43 to 86 years of age, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Age-related retinal degeneration (arrd2) in a novel mouse model due to a nonsense mutation in the Mdm1 gene.

We observed that a naturally occurring mouse strain developed age-related retinal degeneration (arrd2). These mice had normal fundi, electroretinograms (ERGs) and retinal histology at 6 months of age; vessel attenuation, RPE atrophy and pigmentary abnormalities at 14 months, which progressed to complete loss of photoreceptors and extinguished ERG by 22 months. Genetic analysis revealed that the retinal degeneration in arrd2 segregates in an autosomal recessive manner and the disease gene localizes to mouse chromosome 10.

Age-period-cohort effect on the incidence of age-related macular degeneration: the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Objective: To examine relationships of age, period, and birth cohort with the 5-year incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design: Population-based cohort study with 4 examination visits 5 years apart from 1988 through 1990, 1993 through 1995, 1998 through 2000, and 2003 through 2005.

Participants: Two thousand nine hundred sixty-eight persons (6603 participant visits) and 3588 persons (8184 participant visits) 43 to 86 years of age at baseline contributing to the incidence of early and late AMD, respectively.

Long-term incidence of dry eye in an older population.

Purpose: To estimate the ten-year incidence of dry eye in an older population and examine its association with various risk factors.

Methods: The 43 to 86 year old population of Beaver Dam, WI, was examined in 1988 to 1990 (n = 4926) and 1993 to 1995 (n = 3722). Dry eye data were first collected in 1993 to 1995.

The epidemiology of progression of pure geographic atrophy: the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Purpose: To examine the change in size and location of pure geographic atrophy (GA).

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Methods: Ninety-five persons with GA either at baseline or at the one of the three five-year follow-up examinations, or both, were identified.

Olfaction and the 5-year incidence of cognitive impairment in an epidemiological study of older adults.

Objectives: To determine whether odor identification ability is associated with the 5-year incidence of cognitive impairment in a large population of older adults with normal cognition at baseline and whether olfactory impairment contributes to the prediction of cognitive decline.

Design: Population-based longitudinal study.

Setting: Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Risk prediction of coronary heart disease based on retinal vascular caliber (from the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities [ARIC] Study).

Recent studies showed that such retinal vascular signs as quantitative retinal vascular caliber were associated with increased risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD), but whether these retinal vascular signs add to the prediction of CHD over and above traditional CHD risk factors was not addressed. Whether these signs add to the prediction of CHD over and above the Framingham risk score in people (n = 9,155) without diabetes selected from the ARIC Study was investigated. Incident CHD was ascertained using standardized methods, and retinal vascular caliber and other retinal signs were measured from retinal photographs.

Pulmonary disease and age-related macular degeneration: the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Objective: To examine the association of pulmonary symptoms, disease, and function with the incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design: Population-based cohort study of persons aged 43 to 86 years at baseline (N = 4926), of whom 3779 participated in 1 or more follow-up examinations.

Methods: Stereoscopic photographs of the macula were graded to determine the presence of AMD.

Traditional and novel cardiovascular risk factors for retinal vein occlusion: the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis.

Purpose: To describe the prevalence of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and its association with cardiovascular, inflammatory, and hematologic risk factors in a multiethnic cohort.

Methods: This was a population-based, cross-sectional study of 6147 participants (whites, blacks, Hispanics, Chinese) from six U.S.

Inflammation, complement factor h, and age-related macular degeneration: the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Objective: To describe the relationship of systemic inflammatory disease, complement factor H (CFH) Y402H (1277T-->C) genotype status and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) prevalence in a multiethnic population of whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Chinese.

Design: Population-based, cross-sectional study.

Participants: We included 5887 persons aged 45 to 84 years with gradable AMD.

Biomarkers of aging and falling: the Beaver Dam eye study.

Falls are an important cause of morbidity in older adults and are an important source of health care spending. We hypothesize that falls are associated with systemic biomarkers of aging. The following functions, measured at the 1998-2000 and 2003-2005 examinations of the Beaver Dam eye study, were considered to be biomarkers of aging (frailties): poorer visual acuity, contrast sensitivity or discrepant vision between the eyes, inability to rise from a chair, slower gait time, poorer hand grip strength, and lower peak expiratory flow rate.

The 15-year cumulative incidence of retinal vein occlusion: the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Objectives: To describe the 15-year incidence of retinal vein occlusion (central retinal vein occlusion and branch retinal vein occlusion) and associated risk factors.

Methods: A population-based study where branch retinal vein occlusion and central retinal vein occlusion were detected at baseline (n = 4068, 1988-1990) and three 5-year follow-up examinations by grading 30 degrees color fundus photographs.

Results: The 15-year cumulative incidences of branch retinal vein occlusion and central retinal vein occlusion were 1.

Postural blood pressure changes and associated factors in long-term Type 1 diabetes: Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: To describe the frequency of orthostatic hypotension and hypertension and associations with risk factors in a cohort of persons with long-term Type 1 diabetes (n=440) participating in the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Methods: Evaluations included detailed medical history, electrocardiography (ECG), and laboratory tests. Blood pressure (BP) was measured in supine and standing positions.

Toll-like receptor polymorphisms and age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: Evidence from genetic-association studies in conjunction with the demonstration of complement deposition in the retina and choroid implicates noncellular pathways of innate immunity in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The purpose of this study was to determine whether common variation in the 10 human toll-like receptors (TLRs) alters the risk of AMD.

Methods: Sixty-eight SNPs were iteratively genotyped across the TLR genes in a cohort of 577 subjects, with and without AMD.

Retinal and cerebral microvascular signs and diabetes: the age, gene/environment susceptibility-Reykjavik study.

Objective: Diabetes increases the risk for microvascular disease. The retina and the brain both have intricate microvascular systems that are developmentally similar. We sought to examine whether microvascular lesions in the retina and in the brain are associated and whether this association differs among people with and without diabetes.

Relation between fasting glucose and retinopathy for diagnosis of diabetes: three population-based cross-sectional studies.

Background: The WHO and American Diabetes Association criteria for diagnosing diabetes mellitus assume the presence of a glycaemic threshold with high sensitivity for identifying retinopathy. However, this assumption is based on data from three previous studies that had important limitations in detecting retinopathy. We aimed to provide updated data for the relation between fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and retinopathy, and to assess the diagnostic accuracy of current FPG thresholds in identifying both prevalent and incident retinopathy.

Clinically significant macular edema and survival in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Purpose: To investigate the association of clinically significant macular edema (CSME) and long-term survival in individuals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Methods: The Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy (WESDR) is an ongoing prospective population-based cohort study initiated from August 21, 1980 through July 30, 1982 of individuals with diabetes diagnosed at either younger than 30 years of age (younger-onset group; n = 996) or 30 years of age or older (older-onset group; n = 1,370).

Further observations on the association between smoking and the long-term incidence and progression of age-related macular degeneration: the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Objective: To examine the association between smoking and the 15-year cumulative incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: Population-based longitudinal cohort study of people in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, who were aged 43 to 84 years (N = 4926) in 1987-1988. Participants were examined in 1988-1990 and were reexamined at 5-year intervals during a 15-year period.

Incidence of age-related cataract over a 15-year interval the Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Objective: To describe the long-term incidence of nuclear cataract, cortical cataract, and posterior subcapsular cataract (PSC) and to evaluate age and cohort effects on these rates.

Design: Population-based study.

Participants: Members of the Beaver Dam Eye Study cohort.

Relationship of retinal vascular caliber with diabetes and retinopathy: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Objective: To examine the relationship of retinal vascular caliber with diabetes, glycemia, and diabetic retinopathy.

Research Design And Methods: Population-based study using data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), comprising 5,976 individuals (whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Chinese) residing in six U.S.

The epidemiology of retinal reticular drusen.

Purpose: To describe the prevalence and 15-year cumulative incidence of and risk factors for reticular drusen.

Design: Population-based prospective study.

Methods: Four thousand nine hundred and twenty-six persons, 43 to 86 years of age, were included between 1988 and 1990, of whom 3,684, 2,764, and 2,119 participated in five-, 10-, and 15-year follow-up examinations, respectively, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase level and peripheral arterial disease.

Objective: We examined the association between increasing serum GGT levels and PAD in the US general population.

Methods: Cross-sectional study among 3941 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 participants aged >or=40 years. Main outcome-of-interest was PAD defined as ankle-brachial index <0.