Taking aspirin daily may lower the risk of suffering heart disease and strokes, even certain types of cancer, but a side effect of this is late stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a condition related to blindness or weakening of eye sight, according to a Dutch research.

Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Academic Medical Centre found out after studying 4,700 above-65 Europeans who take aspirin daily that they are twice likely to suffer from late stage AMD. The samples included Norwegian, Estonian, British, French, Italian, Greek and Spanish.

From a sample of 839 seniors studied by researchers in Holland, 36 or 4 percent had an advanced wet AMD. From another group who took aspirin less frequently, 2 percent had similar eye/visual condition.

The institute's lead researcher, Paulus de Jong, said cardiovascular diseases among the people surveyed did not influence the AMD, according to Foxnews.com.

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The study published in the journal Ophthalmology, however, did not find any evidence how aspirin causes AMD.

AMD affects the central vision and sufferers have difficulty in reading, watching TV and driving. In one type of AMD called "wet AMD," abnormal blood vessel growth that bleeds or leaks damage photoreceptors and lead to loss of vision if left untreated.
In another type called "dry AMD," part of the retina atrophies damaging photoreceptors also leading to blindness.

AMD is the leading cause of blindness among people over the age of 60.In this condition, the macula and retina are damaged.
The exact cause of AMD is not yet fully understood.

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