Screening Finds Retinopathy Early in Diabetes
A screening program for diabetic retinopathy diminished the likelihood of eye disease in patients with diabetes....
Macular Degeneration Linked to Aspirin Use
Regular aspirin use was associated with an elevated risk for neovascular age-related macular degeneration....
Test Your Knowledge #656: Proliferative diabetic retinopathy is associated with....
Proliferative diabetic retinopathy is associated with:
Retinopathy Improved with Ranibizumab
Researchers found that ranibizumab (Lucentis) may slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy....
Blindness from Diabetes Increases
According to recent studies funded by the National Eye Institute, diagnoses of diabetic retinopathy increased by 3.7 million new cases over the last decade. Approximately 7.7 million Americans are now affected by diabetic retinopathy and this is...
Resveratrol Has No Metabolic Benefit for Non-Obese Women
Resveratrol supplementation does not improve plasma lipids or insulin sensitivity in non-obese women, nor does it affect its putative targets in fat or muscle....
Diabetic Macular Edema Responds Best to Ranibizumab
Aggressive treatment with ranibizumab during year 3 may be more effective for diabetic macular edema (DME) than less-intensive treatment, according to 3-year outcomes from an ongoing randomized published clinical trial....
Mechanism Leading to Diabetes Blindness Identified
The rare disorder Wolfram syndrome is caused by mutations in a single gene, but its effects on the body are far reaching. The disease leads to diabetes, hearing and vision loss, nerve cell damage that causes motor difficulties, and early...
Low HDL Cholesterol Ups Risk of Diabetic Nephropathy
In type 2 diabetes, HDL-C independent risk factor for diabetic nephropathy but not retinopathy....
New Drug for Diabetes-Related Vision Loss Approved
Last week, the new drug Lucentis was approved to treat diabetic macular edema....
Race-Based Differences in Retinopathy Risk and HbA1c Levels
The hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level that was associated with an increased prevalence of retinopathy was significantly lower in blacks than in whites....
Eye Damage in Hypertension and Diabetes
High blood pressure and diabetes can cause eye cell and blood vessel damage....
Apolipoproteins Can Be Biomarkers for Diabetic Retinopathy
Serum apoliproteins are linked to markers of systemic, retinal microvascular dysfunction in diabetes....
Avandia, Actos May Raise Risk of Macular Edema
Pioglitazone (Actos) and rosiglitazone (Avandia) appear to substantially boost risk of macular edema in type 2 diabetes, an observational study found. Incidence of diabetic macular edema was 1.3% at 1 year on a thiazolidinedione (TZD) compared with...
Devices for Impaired Vision
This table provides the tools for your...
Devices for Impaired Vision
Devices for Impaired Vision
This...
VEGF Trap-Eye Improves Vision in Diabetes Patients
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Trap-Eye provided a significant benefit to patients with diabetic macular edema in a phase II trial - and updated data now shows the initial improvements were sustained or increased a year...
Changes in the Eye Can Predict Heart Disease for Diabetes Patients
Arterial narrowing in retina seen as independent risk factor with type 1 diabetes....
Metformin May Treat a Leading Cause of Blindness
In laboratory rat and cell-culture experiments, the scientists found that metformin substantially reduced the effects of ….
Anti-VEGF Shot Improves Sight for Diabetes Patients
Advantages in improved visual acuity seen with bevacizumab injections are maintained long term for diabetic macular edema patients compared with improvements from laser surgery.
Retinopathy Can Signal Impending Cognitive Decline
In a group of healthy older women, retinopathy was associated with worsening cognitive function over 10 years and with larger ischemic lesion volumes on brain imaging....
Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy May Exceed 90 Million People
Based on data from nearly 23,000 people with diabetes, the age-standardized prevalence of any diabetic retinopathy was 34.6%, which translates into an estimated 92.6 million adults worldwide. The prevalence of PDR was 6.96% (about 17.2 million...
Lower Glycemic Goals Reduces Prevalence of Retinopathy in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes
Tighter control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes lowers the prevalence of retinopathy....
Retinopathy Prevalence Decreasing in Diabetic Adolescents
A 20-year observational study has chronicled notable declines in retinopathy for young patients with type 1 diabetes who receive intensive glycemic control therapy....
Diabetes + Depression Leads to Serious Eye Disease
Patients with diabetes who also suffer from depression are more likely to develop a serious complication known as diabetic retinopathy, a disease that damages the eye's retina, and causes blindness, a five-year study finds....
Editor's Note: Diabetes Myths, Diabetic Retinopathy Slides and More...
Misconceptions abound when it come to diabetes, and this week's Clinical Mastery Newsletter looks at a couple of them. Our Clinical Case Study looks at the reasons why telling patients that they are "borderline" may not be...
Editor's Note: The Value of Glucagon Kits; Retinopathy Homerun Slides; and Fear of Insulin
Many times our patients get a Glucagon Kit when they start on insulin and since most patients are taught to only use the injection if they are unconscious, they never use it. However, in this week's Diabetes Disaster Averted, the use of part...
ADA: Restoring Visual Acuity in Diabetes with VEGF Inhibitor
The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor ranibizumab (Lucentis) proves promising in treating diabetic macular edema....
Editor's Note: Misconceptions about Diabetes and Eye Disease, Correct Pump Settings and Case Study
This week I picked up my new glasses and was chatting with the optometrist about how many of his patients have diabetes. Dr. Adler sees a good number of them as his population is a little older and what surprises him is that they often make no...
TZD Use Linked to Increased Risk for Eye Disease
Edema, such as swelling of the legs or fluid in the lungs, is a known side effect of thiazolidinediones. This retrospective study showed that people who take TZDs are 3.6 times more likely to develop diabetic macular edema (DME, a thickening and...
Sleep Apnea Linked to Eye Disease, Nerve Damage
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in people with type 2 diabetes....
Eye Examination Provides Clues to Diabetic Nerve Damage
A simple eye scan may detect early signs of diabetes-related nerve damage....
Editor's Note: Diabetic Eye Disease and What We Think We See
Lately I have been doing a lot of education classes for patients and when it comes to complications of diabetes, patients often want to focus (no pun intended) on vision problems. During my discussions it appears that the fear of losing the...
Acute Hyperglycemia Induces Endothelial Dysfunction
Type 2 diabetes is associated with many complications at the macro- and microvascular level. The impact of acute hyperglycemia on retinal as well as macrovascular circulation was investigated in a recent study. Vascular and endothelial function...
50 Year Medalists' Biochemistry Clue Researchers to the Source of Complications or "The Question Is, My Dear Watson, Why Did the Dog Not Bark?"
The Joslin 50-Year Medalist Study
AARON VINIK, MD, PHD, FCP, MACP
The Joslin Gold Medalists...
Sleeping Difficulties Increase Risk of Eye Disease in People with Diabetes
People with Type 2 diabetes who have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more at risk of losing their sight due to severe retinopathy, as well as foot problems and possible amputation because of ...
Editor's Note:
This week Steve finishes up his Homerun Slides on the Cost-Effectiveness of Treatment Strategies for Comorbid Diabetes and Dyslipidemia, by showing how Shared Medical Appointments can actually improve care.
SMA's definitely are the...
Diabetes Disaster #27: Vision Loss Avoidable
Surveys indicate that eyesight is the one sense that Americans fear losing most. Several weeks ago, I examined a patient who complained of "sudden" onset vision loss....
Diabetes and Healthy Eyes Toolkit
New Toolkit for Community Health Workers to Educate People...
Diabetes and Healthy Eyes Toolkit
New Toolkit for Community Health Workers to Educate People...
New Way to Diagnose Retinopathy
An accidental discovery by an Australian eye expert may hold the key to better management of people with diabetes....
Revised Hyperglycemia Levels Predict Retinopathy in Diabetic Patients
"It is proposed that, thresholds of 108 mg/dL for FPG and concentration of 6% for [HbA1c] level could be used to define those who are at risk of retinopathy," study researchers said....
Anti-VEGF Drug Reverses Diabetic Vision Loss
Patients headed toward blindness because of diabetic macular edema showed substantial gains in visual acuity after two years of treatment with the angiogenesis inhibitor drug ranibizumab (Lucentis), its manufacturer said.......
Glycemic Levels Predict Risk of Retinopathy
Both short- and long-term measures of blood glucose can be used to predict the risk of retinopathy....
Can Renin-angiotensin System Blockade Have a Role in Preventing Diabetic Retinopathy?
If untreated, a large proportion of people who develop proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) will experience severe loss of vision within 5 years....
Study Reveals How Omega 3's Work in Preventing Several Forms of Blindness
A follow-up study from Children's Hospital Boston, now reveals exactly how omega-3's provide protection, and provides reassurance that widely used COX-inhibiting drugs like aspirin and NSAIDs don't negate their benefit....
Test Your Knowledge #560: JB is a Caribbean male aged 49 years with Type 2 diabetes. His diabetes was diagnosed 11 years ago, and it is complicated by...
JB is a Caribbean male aged 49 years with Type 2 diabetes. His diabetes was diagnosed 11 years ago, and it is complicated by mild diabetic peripheral neuropathy and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy....
Editor's Note: Retinopathy, GLP-1 Agonists and More
Last week I took two of my interns to USF to watch a laser photo-coagulation procedure. The patient had very bad retinopathy and the physician was working hard to save what little vision she had left. Retinopathy is the number one cause of...
Editor's Note: Punxsutawney Phil, Retinopathy, Incretins, Pt. 3 and More
I am sitting here in Florida thinking about how many of you are waiting to find out if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow. Sad as it seems I would guess that many of you freezing and covered with snow are hoping that the world's most famous...
It's a Blur for Diabetic Drinkers
People with Type 2 diabetes who drink alcohol are at increased risk for blurry vision unrelated to retinopathy....
Eyelids Hold Clue to Heart Disease
Looking a patient square in the eye appears to give doctors an insight into the health of the patient's heart....
Implications for Glycemic Thresholds for Diabetes-Specific Retinopathy
A narrow threshold range for diabetes-specific retinopathy was identified for FPG and HbA1c....
Fifty Years with Diabetes and No Retinopathy
Many long-term survivors with diabetes show little or no progression of retinopathy after a certain point, and this resistance apparently has nothing to do with glycemic control, a researcher found....
Retinopathy Common in Diabetic Adults
Nearly 30% of U.S. diabetes patients over the age of 40 may have diabetic retinopathy, with 4% of this population affected to the point where their vision is threatened, suggests a new study…
Alcohol Consumption and Retinopathy
Alcohol Consumption and Retinopathy -- Visual Acuity: The association between alcohol consumption and diabetic retinopathy and deterioration of visual acuity in individuals with Type 2 diabetes was studied. In a cohort analysis of 1,239...
Two Therapies Slow Diabetic Eye Disease Progression
In high-risk adults with Type 2 diabetes, researchers have found that two therapies may slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that is the leading cause of vision loss in working-age Americans....
Ranibizumab Reduces Vision Loss Due to Diabetes
Study shows around 40% of ranibizumab patients substantially improved vision by 10 letters or more on an eye-chart, compared to 16% with laser therapy alone....
Effect of Prior Intensive Therapy in Type 1 Diabetes on 10-year Progression of Retinopathy in the DCCT/EDIC
The aim of this study was to examine differences between adolescents and adults in persistence of the benefits of intensive therapy 10 years after completion of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)....
Computers Effectively Detect Diabetes-Related Eye Problems
People with diabetes have an increased risk of blindness, yet nearly half of the approximately 23 million Americans with diabetes do not get an annual eye exam to detect possible problems. New methods can now help in screening for...
Diabetic Macular Edema Improves with New Teatment
Patients with diabetic macular edema saw more improvement when intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis) was added to photocoagulation laser treatment than with laser alone, according to results of a National Eye Institute-sponsored...
New Topical Drug to Treat Diabetic Macular Edema
Early-stage human clinical trials showed that a new topical drug was safe and had biological effects in a type of diabetic eye disease, and may offer researchers....
Eye Disease Linked to Weakened Brain Power in People with Diabetes
Diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in the working-age population, could be associated with poorer memory and diminished brain power in people with Type 2 diabetes, according to new research.
TZD's Connected to Vision-Threatening Complication
Treatment with the glitazone class of diabetes drugs leads to a "modest" increase in the risk of diabetic macular edema (DME)-a common complication that can lead to
Issue 97 Item 13 Cases of Blindness Expected to Double
The number of blind or visually impaired Americans is likely to double over the next 30 years as the giant baby boom generation ages, the National Eye Institute reported ;ast week.
Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye Disease, Part 7 of 7
This week we conclude out special seven part from Dr. Paul Chous with slides on the...
Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye Disease, Part 6 of 7
This week's slides on Diabetic Eye Disease cover the Staging of Diabetic Macular Edema,...
Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye Disease, Part 5 of 7
From Part 5 of our series on diabetic eye disease: "Chronic hyperglycemia...
Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye Disease, Part 4 of 7
This week's Homerun Slides cover eye diseases including Efferent...
Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye Disease, Part 3 of 7
This week we present PART 3 of our series on the Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye...
Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye Disease, Part 2 of 7
This week we continue our special series on Diabetic Eye Disease with the second set...
Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Eye Disease, Part 1 of 7
Facts of Diabetic Eye Disease: another American becomes legally blind from diabetic...
Diabetes Microvascular Complications, Part 1 of 2
Diabetes mellitus can lead to many acute and chronic complications. The chronic...
