In a nutshell
The authors aimed to evaluate the relationship between age-related macular degeneration and diabetes. The authors concluded that diabetes was a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the association was stronger in late AMD than earlier stages.
Some background
AMD is a disease that causes the gradual loss of sight due to the blurring or loss of the patient's central vision. This usually occurs after deterioration of the macula (structure at the back of the eye responsible for providing color vision). It is a chronic disease that cannot be cured and many patients will not regain their sight back after it is lost. It is important to diagnose AMD at an early stage to prevent the spread of disease before sight is lost.
There are two types of AMD. In early AMD the retina is damaged but the damage is only visible to an eye doctor. Late AMD affects multiple parts or the eye resulting in sight loss. There are two types of late AMD: wet and dry AMD. In wet AMD (or neovascular AMD) extra blood vessels grow and leak, causing swelling and damage in the eye. It is very severe and results in rapid sight degeneration, but is less common than dry AMD. Dry AMD results in sight degeneration over a longer period of time.
Methods & findings
The aim of this study is to review the data available on ADM in patients with diabetes.
38 articles were examined in this analysis. Depending on the study, patients with diabetes had a 5 to 21% increased risk of developing AMD. Patients with diabetes had a 16 to 48% higher risk of developing late AMD, depending on the study. Diabetes increased the risk of wet AMD between 10 to 48%, depending on the study.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that diabetes was a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and was stronger in late AMD than earlier stages.
Published By :
PLOS ONE
Date :
Sep 19, 2014
