NEW YORK - Women with type 2 diabetes apparently run an increased risk of developing glaucoma, the eye condition characterized by increased internal pressure that can lead to blindness if left untreated.

The finding comes from an analysis of data from more than 76,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study.

"The study supports the notion that type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of glaucoma," lead author Dr. Louis R. Pasquale, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a statement.

"While obesity fuels the type 2 diabetes epidemic, it appears that factors unrelated to obesity contribute to the positive association between type 2 diabetes and glaucoma," Pasquale added. "We were surprised to find this."

The women in the study were at least 40 years of age and free of glaucoma when the study began in 1980. The participants were followed until 2000, according to the report, published in the journal Ophthalmology.

During the study period, 429 women were diagnosed with glaucoma.