Keratoconus is a progressive eye disease that weakens the usually spherically shaped cornea and begins to form a cone-like shape. This condition generally begins in early life and seems to occur in populations throughout the world.

A new study published in the American Academy of Opthalmology has found that ethnicity and common systemic diseases affect the changes in the eye with keratoconus, using data from a large, diverse group of insured individuals in the United States.

The study found that:

• African-Americans and Latinos have much higher odds being diagnosed with keratoconus compared with whites.
• Asians have reduced odds of being diagnosed with keratoconus compared with whites.
• Patients with uncomplicated diabetes mellitus (DM) and patients with DM complicated by end-organ damage have lower odds of having keratoconus compared with those without DM.
• Persons with collagen vascular disease had 35% lower odds of keratoconus
• People with sleep apnoea, asthma, and Down syndrome have much higher odds of developing keratoconus
• Conditions like allergic rhinitis, mitral valve disorder, aortic aneurysm or depression do not show any association with keratoconus

More articles on My Health Career:

• Infants of blind parents pay less attention to eye direction
• APLP2 – the genetic link for the development of myopia in children who read a lot
• Visual processing impairments in schizophrenia
• Could eye drops be the future rather than cataract surgery?
• Genetic interaction in the treatment of glaucoma

Image: Keratomania – flickr