A national study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) links an upward trend in visual impairment to the diabetes 2 epidemic. The results show that Americans are impacted at ever-younger ages.

Contact me to arrange interviews with ophthalmologists with expertise in diabetes-related eye diseases, who can provide insight on the implications of the new study as well as background on diabetic vision loss and treatment. The experts are affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The longer a person has diabetes, the more likely he or she is to develop a visual disorder, like diabetic retinopathy (DR). Treatment to minimize vision loss is life-long and intensive. If many more people develop DR in their 30s or 40s, the economic and quality-of-life costs to patients and to society will be enormous.