There are currently an estimated 300 million people worldwide with diabetes. This number continues to rise, especially in developing countries, making diabetes one of the major public health concerns of the 21st century.
Defining Diabetes
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, hyper- or hypoinsulinemia, and progressive pancreatic β-cell failure.
Type 1 diabetes is caused by a decrease in or absence of insulin production, and so its therapy centers on insulin replacement. Genetic, autoimmune, toxic, and infectious mechanisms have been implicated in its etiology.
Type 2 diabetes is the more common of the two types, representing about 90% of all cases. In Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and a relative deficiency of insulin result in chronic hyperglycemia.
While Type 2 diabetes has long been considered a disease of the elderly or middle-aged, the demographics of the disease are rapidly shifting. Currently, approximately 50% of patients with Type 2 diabetes are below age 60.
Diabetic Retinopathy
The eye is one of the main target organs for diabetes. In fact, 20% of all newly diagnosed diabetics already demonstrate signs of diabetic retinopathy by the time their disease is recognized.
To learn more about diabetic retinopathy, click here.
Patients With Diabetes Are at Increased Risk of Cataract, AMD, and Glaucoma
While diabetic retinopathy occurs as a direct result of the diabetic disease state, many common, vision-threatening ocular diseases are seen with greater frequency in the diabetic compared to the non-diabetic individual. These include cataract, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and glaucoma. In these diseases the metabolic abnormalities characteristic of diabetes may play an important role in rendering individuals with diabetes more vulnerable.