Diabetes, fasting blood glucose and age-related maculopathy: The Blue Mountains Eye Study.
OBJECTIVE
As diabetes is associated with other causes of visual loss (cataract, glaucoma) and elevated plasma fibrinogen, a risk factor for age-related maculopathy (ARM), our aim was to assess whether an association existed between diabetes and ARM.


METHODS
After exclusions, 3228 persons aged 49-97 years were studied. Diabetes was assessed from history or fasting glucose > or = 7.0mmol/L. Early and ate ARM were graded from stereoscopic photographs.


RESULTS
Late ARM (neovascular AMD or geographical atrophy) was found in 61 subjects (1.9%) while early ARM (large soft drusen and/or retinal pigment changes) was found in 171 (5.2%) subjects. Diabetes was present in 276 subjects (8.6%). Late ARM was present in 3.3% of subjects with and in 1.8% without diabetes. However, after adjusting for ARM risk factors, this difference was not statistically significant (OR 2.0; CI 0.9-4.6). Geographic atrophy was significantly associated with diabetes (OR 4.0; CI 1.6-10.3), but no association was found with either exudative ARM (OR 1.2; CI 0.4-3.5) or early ARM (OR 1.0; CI 0.5-1.8). No ARM associations were found with impaired fasting glucose.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has found no consistent relationship between diabetes and ARM, apart from a statistically significant association with geographical atrophy alone.
Mitchell
P
P
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. paulmi@westmed.wh.su.edu.au
Wang
J J
JJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001284:Atrophy; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005215:Fasting / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence
D001786:Blood Glucose