Young people with Type 2 diabetes (compared to Type 1 diabetics of the same age) are 88 times more likely to develop retinopathy (abnormal blood vessels and/or hemorrhages in the retina). In addition, the risk of this retinopathy becoming "proliferative," and therefore threatening to vision, is increased 230 times. There is also a 49-fold increase in the risk of fluid accumulation in the retina (macular edema) and a 243-fold increase in the risk of developing a mature cataract at a young age. The latter requires surgery which is riskier in young people than in the case of age-related senile cataracts.
Source: Medical Xpress