The number of Americans with diabetic retinopathy is expected to increase from 5.5 million to 16 million by the year 2050.  Diabetic retinopathy is damage to the retina caused by complications of diabetes, which can eventually lead to blindness.

Researchers used data from the National Health Interview Survey and the US Census Bureau to project the number of people with diabetic retinopathy (DR), vision-threatening DR (VTDR), glaucoma, and cataracts among Americans 40 years or older with diagnosed diabetes mellitus for the years 2005-2050.

Study results showed:

• the number of Americans 40 years or older with DR will triple from 5.5 million in 2005 to 16.0 million in 2050
• the number of Americans 40 years or older with VTDR will also triple, from 1.2 million in 2005 to 3.4 million in 2050
• increases among those 65 years or older will be more pronounced (2.5 million to 9.9 million for DR and 0.5 million to 1.9 million for VTDR)
• the number of cataract cases among whites and blacks 40 years or older with diabetes will likely increase 235% by 2050, and 
• the number of glaucoma cases among Hispanics with diabetes 65 years or older will increase 12-fold.

Study authors stress the importance of efforts to prevent diabetes as well as to optimally manage diabetes and its complications.

SOURCE:  Projection of Diabetic Retinopathy and Other Major Eye Diseases Among People With Diabetes Mellitus, Saaddine, et al, Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126(12):1740-1747.

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An Ottawa company is developing computerized glasses to help those with severe visual impairments maximize the vision they have left. 

The glasses, which look like an oversize pair of sunglasses, have a high-resolution camera on the outside and tiny LCD screens on the inside that project images to the wearer’s eyes.  The glasses will also zoom in on and replay what has been seen with the press of a button.

The company, eSight Corp., received a $500,000 grant from the Ontario government to develop its evSpex product, and hopes to start commercial production next year.

Before the image is projected, it’s custom-processed by a tiny computer.  “So that when it’s presented to a person who has diseased eyes … it’s presented to the pieces of their vision that are most functional,” said eSight Corp. company president Rob Hilkes.

Because the device continually records a loop of video, the user can save the last 10 seconds of what they saw at the press of a button so they can look again at something that went by too quickly.  The video can be viewed later on a DVD player or computer.   Users can also zoom in on certain things in their field of view

The product is expected to be able to help people with age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa.  In the future, the company hopes to market the technology to people with normal vision as wearable binoculars, night vision goggles or video gaming devices.

SOURCE:  High-tech glasses help the nearly blind see, CBC News, Sept. 11, 2009, http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/09/11/ottawa-esight-glasses-technology-company-blind.html

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