Vision damage may begin long before type 2 diabetes is diagnosed
Amount of damage to corneal nerves rises in tandem with impaired glucose metabolism, Dutch researchers say
Nerve damage is a common side effect of type 2 diabetes and it might start in the eyes long before the condition is ever diagnosed, new research suggests.
In this study, scientists used neuropathy, or nerve damage, in the eye’s cornea as a proxy for the damage to nerves throughout the body.
The study included nearly 3500 people — 21% with type 2 diabetes, 15% with prediabetes and 64% with neither condition — and the investigators looked at the corneal nerves in all three groups.
The researchers found that the amount of damage to the corneal nerves rose in tandem with the amount of impairment to glucose metabolism.
