Diabetes linked to higher glaucoma risk for women

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women with type 2 diabetes
apparently run an increased risk of developing glaucoma, the
eye condition characterized by increased internal pressure that
can lead to blindness if left untreated.

The finding comes from an analysis of data from more than
76,000 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study.

“The study supports the notion that type 2 diabetes is
associated with an increased risk of glaucoma,” lead author Dr.
Louis R. Pasquale, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, said
in a statement.

“While obesity fuels the type 2 diabetes epidemic, it
appears that factors unrelated to obesity contribute to the
positive association between type 2 diabetes and glaucoma,”
Pasquale added. “We were surprised to find this.”

The women in the study were at least 40 years of age and
free of glaucoma when the study began in 1980. The participants
were followed until 2000, according to the report, published in
the journal Ophthalmology.

During the study period, 429 women were diagnosed with
glaucoma.

After accounting for weight, physical activity, age, and
other possible risk factors, the researchers found that having
type 2 diabetes was associated with an 82 percent higher risk
of developing glaucoma. The risk was actually higher in women
who had diabetes for 5 years or less than for those with
long-standing disease.

“Our work suggests, but in no way proves, that factors
other than lifestyle behavior contributing to insulin
resistance could lead to elevated intraocular pressure and
glaucoma,” Pasquale concluded.

SOURCE: Ophthalmology, July 2006.