Diabetes 'no longer leading cause of blindness'

[Northerner]

18th March 2014 – Figures showing that for the first time in more than half a century diabetic eye disease is no longer the leading cause of blindness in adults of working age have been welcomed by health authorities.

Public Health England says the fall can be partly attributed to better screening.

The figures are drawn from a study published in BMJ Open which examined the causes of blindness in people aged 16 to 64 living in England and Wales.

The study compared the number of people registered as blind in the year 2009 to 2010 with the same period 10 years earlier. This showed that inherited retinal disorders had overtaken diabetes as the main cause of blindness.

http://www.webmd.boots.com/eye-health/news/20140318/diabetes-not-main-cause-blindness

Good news! 🙂

 

[Copepod]

Great news that screening has reduced numbers of people losing sight due to diabetes. However, as analysis is only of registrations in people aged 16 to 64, I suspect that there is still quite a lot of sight loss due to diabetes in people aged 65 years and over, when glaucoma and macular degeneration are also significant causes of sight loss, and all those who were going to lose their sight through congenital conditions had lost their sight much younger.