Dim under 40 year old? Diabetes Can Be Cause

Many people under 40 years who have started experiencing nearsightedness or impaired vision. Most of the reason is because of nearsightedness or myopia which can be corrected by wearing glasses. But there is one more cause that is not common, such as diabetes.

From 1999 to 2008, there was an increase in serious vision problems in adults as much as 21 percent in the U.S.. Results showed that diabetes participated contribute to increasing that number, especially diabetes that lasted for 10 years or more.

Diabetes causes a sharp rise in cases of visual impairment in adults aged 20-39 years. In this age group, visual impairment increased 40 percent, while the number of cases of diabetes in young adults increased by 133 percent.

"There are changes over 7-10 years. One is an increase in cases of visual impairment increases that can not be corrected with glasses. Now people aged 20-39 years also lost vision," said Dr. Fang Ko, optometrists Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as reported by HealthDay, Wednesday (12/12/2012).

In a report published the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr Ko explains that there are many causes of vision problems, such as macular degeneration due to aging, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and other retinal disorders.

About 3 million people in the U.S. have impaired vision due to diabetes that can not be corrected with glasses. Vision is said to be disturbed if achieved 20/40 or worse. Vision 20/40 means can clearly see something from a distance of 20 meters compared to the normal vision could see from a distance of 40 meters.

"Not really blind, but definitely impaired vision and may be difficult to get license in some countries. Disorders can also affect your job," he said.

Ko and his colleagues analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the U.S. were collected from the year 1999 to 2002 and from year 2005 to 2008. There are about 10,000 people surveyed in each time period.

The results of the analysis found that the rate of diabetes that lasted more than 10 years increased by 22 percent. This study did not distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. However, most researchers suspect increasing is type 2 diabetes.

In 1999 - 2002, diidap diabetes for a long time increases the risk of visual impairment by 93 percent. In 2005 - 2008, diidap diabetes for 10 years or more increases the likelihood of visual impairment more than 2.5 times.

Dr Ko suggested that people with type 2 diabetes to immediately conduct a routine eye exam every year. For people with type 1 diabetes, routine eye exams should be done every year and starts at 5 years after it was first diagnosed.