The Study
Association between cardiovascular health metrics and retinal ageing
This study looked at a bunch of people and found that those with healthier hearts and blood vessels also tended to have eyes that looked younger. But it didn’t change anyone’s habits to see if that made a difference—so we can’t say fixing your diet or quitting smoking will definitely slow eye aging, just that they often go together.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Scientists used AI to guess your age from a photo of your eye, then compared it to your real age — if your eye looks older than you are, it might mean your body is ageing faster.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 556 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — if your eye age is much higher than your real age, it could be an early warning sign your blood vessels are ageing too fast, even before heart problems show up.
- 2People with the healthiest habits (not smoking, normal weight, low blood pressure and sugar) had eyes that looked 2–4 years younger than their real age.
- 3Each healthy habit cut the chance of fast eye ageing by 20–34%.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
GeroScience
Year
2023
Authors
Ruiye Chen, Jinyi Xu, Xuedong Shang, G. Bulloch, Mingguang He, Wen Wang, Zhuoting Zhu
Related Content
Claims (6)
The blood vessels in the retina show changes that mirror changes in the heart and blood vessels throughout the body because both are exposed to the same metabolic and blood flow stresses.
People with optimal heart health markers are 42% less likely to show signs of rapid retinal ageing than those with poor heart health markers, even when accounting for age, sex, ethnicity, income, inflammation, and prior heart disease or diabetes.
Higher levels of smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, and blood glucose are linked to older-looking retinas, while ideal levels of these factors are associated with 20–34% lower odds of accelerated retinal ageing; physical activity and diet show no such association after accounting for other factors.
People with better cardiovascular health, based on measures like blood pressure, BMI, and blood sugar, have retinas that appear younger than their actual age, and each improvement in their cardiovascular health score reduces the likelihood of accelerated retinal ageing.
A computer analysis of eye images can estimate biological age based on blood vessel changes in the retina, and this estimate correlates with measures of heart and blood vessel health.
People with better cardiovascular health scores have retinas that appear younger than their actual age, and the better their heart health, the younger their retinas appear.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.