The most common form of glaucoma, primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) accounts for about 60 to 70% of all glaucoma cases. In a 20-year study of women in Nurses' Health Study published in the July issue of the journal Ophthalmology showed that type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with POAG.

"The study supports the notion that type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of glaucoma," said Louis Pasquale, M.D., lead author of the study and co-director of the Glaucoma Service at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) and an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

"While obesity fuels the type 2 diabetes epidemic, it appears that factors unrelated to obesity contribute to the positive association between type 2 diabetes and glaucoma.

POAG is one of the leading cause of blindness and according to the National Eye Institute, POAG affects more than 2 million individuals in the United States.

The study results suggest that people with type 2 diabetes should be screened for glaucoma.

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Photo Credit: Mayo Clinic