More Vision Loss With Diabetes

(October 14, 2008) - People with diabetes (Read about "Diabetes") face many other health issues, including higher rates of heart disease. (Read about "Coronary Heart Disease") A study in the Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, says that you can add vision problems to the list. Visual impairment appears to be more common in people with diabetes than in those without the disease.

Approximately 14.6 million Americans had diagnosed diabetes mellitus in 2005 and another 6.2 million had undiagnosed diabetes, according to background information in the article. It is estimated that the number of individuals with diagnosed diabetes will increase to 48.3 million by 2050. "Diabetic retinopathy [damage to the retina caused by diabetes], one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes, is considered to be one of the major causes of blindness and low vision," the authors write. Although studies suggest that controlling glucose and blood pressure have reduced the rate of retinal diseases, other ocular conditions suffered by diabetic patients, such as cataract and glaucoma (Read about "Cataracts" "Glaucoma") , may increase the risk of visual impairment. Additionally, decreased vision caused by an abnormal shape of the cornea (Read about "The Eye") is also common among people with diabetes.

The study showed that about 11 percent of the people with diabetes had vision problems, while only 6 percent of the people without diabetes.

"People with diabetes were more likely to have uncorrectable vision impairment than those without diabetes, even after controlling for selected other factors," the authors write.