There is a growing number of vision problems that can't be corrected with eyeglasses and this number seems to have a correlation with the increasing rates of diabetes.
A study reveals that among Americans age 20 and older, there has been an increase in non-refractive visual impairment. The number increased from 1.4 percent between 1999 and 2002 to 1.7 percent between 2005 and 2008 which is an increase of 21 percent. The number of people with diabetes also rose during this same time period climbing from 6.5 percent in 1998 to 10.7 percent in 2007 and then to 11.3 percent in 2010.
Researchers analyzed data from the National Health Nutrition Examination Survey, which involved 10,480 people ages 20 and older. Age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma are the most frequent causes of nonrefractive visual problems in the United States. The American Diabetes Association reports that at least 25.8 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes with almost 2 million new cases being diagnosed in people 20 and older in the year 2010 alone. The worrisome numbers from the study indicate that if the trend continues, the rates of disability in the U.S. population could significantly rise.*
