South Asian diabetics at risk for early eye trouble
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - South Asians with type 2 diabetes have a much higher risk of losing their eyesight to diabetic eye disease, or "retinopathy," and losing it at an earlier age, compared to White Europeans with type 2 diabetes, researchers report.
According to a study published in the journal Diabetes Care, diabetic retinopathy -- damage to the tiny blood vessels supplying the retina -- is more prevalent in South Asians with diabetes and occurs earlier than in White Europeans with diabetes.
The study, conducted by Dr. J. Paul O'Hare, of the University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K., and colleagues involved a total of 1,035 patients with type 2 diabetes. Of these, 421 (41 percent) were of South Asian ethnicity and 614 (59 percent) were of White European ethnicity.
The results showed that 45 percent of South Asians had retinopathy compared to only 37 percent of White Europeans. In addition, 16 percent of the South Asian group had sight-threatening retinopathy compared to only 12 percent of White Europeans.
The study also found that South Asians developed diabetic retinopathy about 7 years earlier than White Europeans.
"Health care professionals in developed and developing countries need to be aware of the potential contribution of diabetic retinopathy to visual loss in South Asian communities," O'Hare and colleagues conclude.
High-quality data are needed, they add, to investigate the effectiveness of interventions to modify known risk factors through aggressive treatment of high blood pressure and high blood sugar.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, March 2009.
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