A person's eye can indicate a high risk of death: what scientists have noticed

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Australian scientists have linked the “age gap” of the retina with an increased risk of dying. Researchers have suggested that in the future, eye scans could be used to calculate the probability of death.

Experts analyzed images of the retinas taken from 36,000 Britons and found that those with retinas older than their biological age are at risk at increased risk of death. The study is published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Every year of gap between a person's retinal age and their biological age was associated with a 2 percent increase in the risk of death.

The gap is the difference between the chronological age of a person and the estimated biological age of his retina. It can be calculated by a program that analyzes images of the fundus, the inner back surface of the eye.

According to Australian experts who followed volunteers for 11 years, people with a ten-year gap were 67% more likely to die .

Significant age-related changes in the retina were associated with a 49-67 percent increased risk of dying from heart disease or cancer.

Doctor Zhuoting Zhu, one of the authors of the study, said: “ These results suggest that retinal age may be a clinically relevant biomarker of aging. Visualization of the retina contains information about risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney diseases”.