Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy — vision-threatening damage to the retina of the eye caused by diabetes — is the leading cause of blindness among working-age Americans, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Yet, many cases could be prevented with regular eye exams and appropriate treatment.

Currently more than 5 million Americans age 40 and older have diabetic retinopathy due to type 1 or type 2 diabetes. And that number will grow to about 16 million by 2050, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC also estimates that nearly 26 million Americans, or 8.3 percent of the U.S. population, had diabetes in 2010, and 79 million Americans adults age 20 or older are at high risk for the disease.

Also, between 12,000 and 24,000 new cases of blindness related to diabetic retinopathy occur in the United States each year, the CDC says.

Blind spots and floaters can be seen in the late stages of diabetic retinopathy.
In the late stages of diabetic retinopathy, you may have blind spots and/or floaters.

And both diabetes and obesity (a major risk factor for diabetes) are steadily on the rise in the United States. Data gathered by the United Health Foundation indicate that diabetes affected 8.7 percent of the U.S. population in 2011 (up from 8.3 percent in 2010) — a 4.8 percent increase in one year and a 42.6 percent increase since 2001.

The Foundation also estimates that 27.5 percent of the U.S. adult population were obese in 2011 — a 2.2 percent increase since 2010, and a 37.5 percent increase since 2001.