Diabetic Eye Problems in Chinese

One might think that Diabetic Eye Problems such as Diabetic Retinopathy in a Chinese population would be somewhat limited or perhaps considerably lower than American Caucasians given the difference in diet and cultural factors. Researchers reporting in the February 2012 journal Retina-The Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases in an article titled Prevalence and Risk factors for Diabetic Retinopathy:The Beijing Communities Diabetes Study 6 concluded that in the urban population of Beijing studied, prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy in diabetic patients was 25%. As in whites, increased blood pressure besides elevated plasma glucose concentrations was highly significantly associated with Diabetic Retinopathy in Chinese. It suggests that in Chinese as also in whites, blood pressure control beside control of plasma glucose levels is important to prevent development or progression of Diabetic Retinopathy. Further, just as in a Caucasian population the risk of proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy increases with younger age, longer duration of diabetes, higher concentration of glycosylated hemoglobin (Hemoglobin A1C) and elevated blood urea concentration which is similar to U.S. adults. Thus it would not appear as if the dietary and cultural differences between Chinese populations and U.S. Caucasian populations have a material influence on Diabetic Eye Problem risk.