“Children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes, increased risk of diabetic retinopathy”
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Han Seong-gan = A study has found that the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that can lead to blindness, reaches 7% in children and adolescent patients with type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes exposes the retinal blood vessels to excess glucose and lipids, disrupting the balance of nutrients transported to the retinal blood vessels, which eventually weakens and leaks, resulting in diabetic retinopathy. If left unattended, it leads to blindness.
As a result of a comprehensive analysis of data from 27 related research papers involving a total of 5,924 children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes, a research team led by Professor Milena Sioana, a pediatric endocrinologist at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Canada, found this to be the case. It was revealed, HealthDay News reported on the 21st.
Overall, their prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 6.99%, the researchers found.
The prevalence showed a tendency to increase over time.
The prevalence increased to 1.11% before 2.5 years following diabetes diagnosis, to 9.04% between 2.5 and 5 years, and to 28.14% following 5 years.
This high prevalence was independent of the patient’s gender, race, or obesity.
As this result shows that when children and adolescents develop type 2 diabetes, the microvascular tissue of the retina is attacked in the early stages of diabetes, the research team emphasized that research on this part is urgent.
The findings were published in the latest issue of JAMA Network Open, the journal of the American Medical Association.
skhan@yna.co.kr
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