Department News

Dr. de la Cruz reports on high risk to Hispanics of developing diabetic retinopathy at recent conference

Jose de la Cruz, MD, discussed diabetic retinopathy in the Latino community at a December 4th conference held by the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation.  This was the 6th Annual ILLCF conference examining a wide range of public policy matters as they affect the Latino community. 

Dr. de la Cruz is director of the Comprehensive Ophthalmology Service at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary.  The Infirmary sees over 55,000 patients with a variety of ophthalmic diseases and disorders each year, about one-third of whom are Latino. 

Dr. de la Cruz’s presentation was part of a session entitled “Confronting Diabetes, Chronic Diseases and Other Health Issues.”  He reported that the incidence of diabetes among Hispanics is almost twice that of non-Hispanic whites, according to one recent study.  Research has also shown that there is persistent low awareness of the ocular complications of diabetes among Hispanics overall.  Dr. de la Cruz emphasized that diabetic retinopathy is largely preventable through more aggressive health education programs targeted to Hispanics and innovations in health care delivery services to ensure the availability of screenings for the disease and appropriate follow up. 

He also called for demographic studies of diabetic retinopathy in Hispanics in Illinois, nothing that the most reliable studies to date focus on populations in Los Angeles and Baltimore.  Illinois has the tenth highest Hispanic population in the nation, according to data from the 2000 U.S. Census. 

View the presentation by Dr. de la Cruz.