Research

Hormonal

Interventions that delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in overweight/obese subjects with dysglycemia do not reduce the subsequent development or prevalence of diabetic retinopathy for up to 20 years.

If you have prediabetes or are at risk for type 2 diabetes, preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes through lifestyle changes or medication (like metformin) does not guarantee that you will avoid eye damage (retinopathy). Retinopathy can start during the prediabetic stage. Therefore, regular eye exams are crucial for people with prediabetes, regardless of whether they successfully prevent diabetes.

StrongRefutesHIGH confidence
Interventions that delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in overweight/obese subjects with dysglycemia who are at risk for diabetes do not reduce the development of diabetic retinopathy for up to 20 years.
Neil H. White et al. · Diabetes Care · 2022

Why this rating

Large-scale, long-term (up to 20 years), randomized controlled trial (DPP/DPPOS) with rigorous fundus photography grading.

Source

The Effect of Interventions to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes on the Development of Diabetic Retinopathy: The DPP/DPPOS Experience

Neil H. White et al. · Diabetes Care · 2022

DOI 10.2337/dc21-2417

rct · n=3234Cited 10×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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