India's diabetes burden is creating another problem: The growing threat to eyesight
Rising diabetes rates in India are leading to a surge in diabetic retinopathy, a condition that can cause permanent vision loss. Health experts warn that the disease often progresses without early symptoms, making regular screenings essential for the growing diabetic population.
Why it matters
It highlights a critical public health challenge in India, where lifestyle-related diseases are increasingly straining the healthcare system and impacting quality of life.
A person can be reading this story clearly, driving to work, watching television and using a phone normally, while diabetes may already be damaging the blood vessels at the back of the eye.That is what makes diabetic eye disease particularly difficult to spot. Diabetic retinopathy can develop without pain or obvious changes in vision in its early stages. By the time blurred vision, dark spots or floaters appear, damage to the retina may already be significant.And with diabetes becoming increasingly common in India, the concern is no longer limited to blood sugar, heart health or kidney disease. The eyes are another part of the body that can pay the price of prolonged uncontrolled blood glucose.The ICMR-INDIAB national study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, estimated that 11.4% of Indian adults had diabetes and another 15.3% had prediabetes. The study analysed data from more than 113,000 people across India.
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