To preserve its sight, it is better to diabetes under control

Are diabetes and control of blood sugar levels (blood sugar) associated with the diagnosis of eye diseases (glaucoma, diabetic eye diseases, macular degeneration, cataract)? If many scientific publications support this relationship, a major English prospective observational study contrasts the issue.

The global increase in the number of people with diabetes suggests an increase still underestimated by the prevalence of eye diseases. This study therefore fills a lack of data concerning the link between blood sugar control and the risk of diagnosis of glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and cataracts. The study, which has just been published in the scientific journal BMJ Open, examined the data of a survey of 5,600 people aged 52 and over in England over a period of 14 years (2004 – 2019).

Researchers have found that people with “uncontrolled” diabetes-that is to say whose blood sugar was raised at the start of the study had 31 % risk of developing a diabetic eye disease (“diabetic retinopathy”) over 14 years. On the other hand, diabetic people whose blood sugar was in “normal” values at the start of the study had 9 % risk of developing this eye disease over the same period.

Diabetic retinopathy is an attack on the retina linked to hyperglycemia and which alters vision.

In addition, diabetic people with high blood sugar were more likely to develop two other eye diseases: glaucoma (+ 29 %) and macular degeneration (+ 38 %), but no more cataracts.

Another data that does not surprise: people with unheeded diabetes presented a higher risk of developing an eye disease than those whose diagnosis had been made, and whose blood sugar had decreased. Specifically, people with unheeded diabetes presented an increased risk of 38 % to develop macular degeneration during the 14 years studied than those whose diabetes was controlled. Their risk of developing diabetic retinopathy was also increased by 23 %.

« The number of elderly people with diabetes in England should increase rapidly in the years to comecomments Dr. Stephen Jivraj, co-author of the study and member of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care of the UCL. In the 2000s, the proportion of people of working age having received a diabetes diagnosis more than doubled, from 2.8 % to 6.8 %. These results show the importance of the diagnosis and support for diabetic people in the management of their disease, as this reduces the risk of potentially disabling eye diseases. »

« This study highlights the importance of vision examinations in the elderly, in particular those who have been diagnosed with diabetes ”, warns the first author of the study, Caitlin Lin. It also pleads in favor of broader diabetes screening in the general population, in order to reduce the number of people who ignore their disease and who could therefore have a higher risk of eye disease than if they had received a diagnosis.