African American Diabetics at High Risk for Eye Disease

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, September 12, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- African Americans with diabetes are at high risk for a serious eye disease that can lead to blindness, according to a new study. The research reveals this particular group of diabetics is at high risk for diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy is a type of diabetes-related eye disease that causes more new cases of legal blindness among American men and women. between 20 and 64 years old than any other factor. The disease happens in diabetics because the body cannot process glucose, and the high levels of glucose can damage nerve and blood vessels, including those of the eye.

Past research has focused on retinopathy in white patients, but this study done at the New Jersey Medical School focused on African Americans. Researchers evaluated the progression of retinopathy in 483 patients who had participated in a study six years earlier. In the earlier study, the patients' level of diabetic retinopathy was noted, and now six years later, study authors compared the level of progression.

Researchers report 72 percent of the patients who did not have diabetic retinopathy in the first study had developed the disease. They also found more than half of the patients with diabetic retinopathy six years ago had disease progression. They found those who had lived with diabetes for the longest period of time were most likely to develop diabetic retinopathy.

Study authors comment improved medical care for African American diabetics is needed. They say this population often has poor control of their glucose levels and blood pressure which in turn could explain why the rate of diabetic retinopathy is high among this group. They add regular eye examinations to detect vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy may reduce morbidity from the disease.

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SOURCE: Archives of Ophthalmology, 2006;124:1297-1306