Association Between Diabetes Mellitus And Glaucoma

It has not been determined definitively whether there is a significant association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and glaucoma. Some population-based studies have shown a positive association between diabetes and glaucoma [1-3], and others have shown negative association between diabetes and glaucoma [4-6]. However in many studies that showed a lack of a significant association between diabetes and glaucoma, the diagnosis of DM was made by self-presentation [4,5]. On the other hand, DM was diagnosed by the serum glucose level or by glucose tolerance tests in the Rotterdam Study. The study concluded that the risk of open angle glaucoma was increased by more than three times in patients with diabetes than without diabetes[1]. The results of a recent metaanalysis suggested that diabetes was a significant risk factor for open angle glaucoma [7]. However, two of 12 studies included in the meta-analysis used only high intraocular pressure (IOP) as a definition of open angle glaucoma [7]. Thus, patients with normal tension glaucoma were not included in the glaucoma group. More exact definitions of DM and glaucoma should be used to determine more accurately the association between DM and glaucoma. The results of these studies indicate that there is insufficient clinical evidence to conclude that there is a significant relationship between diabetes mellitus and glaucoma.