The retinal vasculature is a unique site where the microcirculation can be noninvasively imaged in vivo. This presents an opportunity to study otherwise inaccessible structural features of the microcirculation. Recently, a number of population-based studies have developed quantitative methods of measuring these retinal signs, and investigated how these signs relate to metabolic disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. These studies have reported fairly consistent associations of retinopathy lesions, arteriolar narrowing and venular dilation with these metabolic disorders, […]