Abstract
Two hundred thirty six patients with diabetes who had been diagnosed as diabetics under the age of 25, and referred to the Diabetes Center or the Department of Pediatrics of Tokyo Women's Medical College, were examined changes in incidence of retinopathy over a 6-year period. They consisted of 167 patients with (IDDM)(mean age of onset, 10.0±6.0 years; duration of diabetes, 15.1±6.1 years in 1986), and 69 with (NIDDM)(mean age of onset, 20.0±3.7 years; duration of diabetes, 15.3±0.9 years). Between 1980 and 1986, the incidence of retinopathy increased by 16.8% to 56.9% in patients with IDDM, but by only 4.4% to 56.5% in patients with NIDDM. When the duration was under 10 years, the incidence of retinopthy in NIDDM patients was higher than that in IDDM patients. The longer was the duration of diabetes, however, the more the incidence of retinopathy in IDDM patients increased.
