Eye Health
Important Facts About Diabetic Eye Disease
American Academy of Ophthalmology
P.O. Box 7424, San Francisco, CA 94120

• Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of new cases of legal blindness among working-age Americans.
• Sixteen million Americans have Type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes. However, only half are aware of it.
• People with diabetes are 25 times more likely to develop blindness than the general population.
• The longer a person has diabetes, the greater the chance they have for developing diabetic retinopathy. This is especially true for people who have Type 1 diabetes and developed the disease before the age of 30.
• Nearly all patients with diabetes of 20 years or more duration will develop some degree of retinopathy.
• Diabetic retinopathy usually causes no symptoms at its most treatable stages.
• Only about half of the people with diagnosed diabetes received annual dilated eye examinations.
• Clinical studies have shown that treatment for diabetic retinopathy may be 90 percent effective in preventing severe vision loss.