Researchers found that Latinos who already had visual impairment, blindness, or diabetic retinopathy in one eye when they began the study had very high rates of developing the condition in the other eye during the study. More than half of participants who already had diabetic retinopathy in one eye developed it in the other eye.

"These results underscore the importance of Latinos, especially those with diabetes, getting regular, dilated eye exams to monitor their eye health," Varma said. "Eye care professionals should closely monitor Latinos who have eye disease in one eye because their quality of life can be dramatically impacted if they develop the condition in both eyes."

In addition, LALES showed that Latinos were more likely to develop cataracts in the center of the lens (10.2 percent) than the edge of the lens (7.5 percent). Many of these lens changes were age-related, as 50 percent of Latinos age 70 and older developed cataracts in the center of the lens.

However, Latinos in the study had low rates of early and late age-related macular degeneration (AMD) development. Less than 8 percent developed early AMD and less than 1 percent developed late AMD, though the chance of developing AMD did increase with age. Compared with other population-based studies, Latinos in LALES were half as likely to develop early AMD and one-third as likely to develop late AMD as non-Hispanic whites.

Previous results from LALES showed that more than 60 percent of eye disease in Latinos is undiagnosed and undetected-specifically, 98 percent of AMD, 95 percent of diabetic retinopathy, 82 percent of glaucoma, 57 percent of cataracts, and 19 percent of refractive error. LALES researchers are currently investigating the risk factors for eye disease development in Latinos, and will examine specific genetic risk factors for diabetic retinopathy and AMD.

Source: NIH/National Eye Institute