Low Vitamin D3 Levels implicated in Diabetic Retinopathy

Patients With Diabetic Retinopathy More Likely To Have Insufficient Vitamin D Levels.

Medscape (10/22, Louden) reported that, according to research presented at an ophthalmology meeting, "patients with diabetic retinopathy, especially the proliferative type, are more likely to have insufficient serum vitamin D levels than people without diabetes, suggesting a link between vitamin D deficiency and one of the leading causes of blindness in adults." In a study of 221 patients with type 2 diabetes, researchers found that "people with diabetes had significantly lower mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels than people without diabetes (22.9 vs. 30.3 ng/mL; P < .001)." What's more, "people with no eye disease had the highest serum vitamin D levels (mean, 31.9 ng/mL), and those with proliferative retinopathy had the lowest levels (mean, 21.1 ng/mL)." And other diseases as well. See the Vitamin D Council for much more information on Vitamin D3.