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New Treatment Results In Dramatic Improvement

Posted 8/5/2010

Researchers have discovered a new, more effective way to prevent blindness.

(NAPSI) - There could be comforting news for the approximately 18 million Americans with diabetes--and the millions more who may develop it someday. Re-searchers believe they have seen their way clear to better treatments for diabetic retinopathy, the most common cause of vision loss in working-age Americans.

The Problem

This condition damages the small blood vessels in the eye's light-sensitive retinal tissue. When these damaged blood vessels begin to leak fluid near the center of the retina, known as the macula, macular edema occurs. The macula provides detailed central vision used for activities such as reading, driving and distinguishing faces. In macular edema, the retinal tissue swells, which can lead to vision loss if left untreated.

The Solutions

Laser treatment of the retina has long been the standard care for diabetic macular edema. Now, however, studies supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, found that ranibizumab (Lucentis) eye injections, often in combination with laser treatment, result in better vision than laser treatment alone for diabetes--associated swelling of the retina.

"These results indicate a treatment breakthrough for saving the vision of people with diabetic macular edema," said Neil M. Bressler, M.D., chair of the DRCR.net and chief of the Retina Division at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Md. "Eye injections of ranibizumab with prompt or deferred laser treatment should now be considered for patients with characteristics similar to those in this clinical trial."

The studies indicated that repeated doses of medications, such as ranibizumab, may prevent blood vessels from leaking fluid and causing macular edema.

"This comparative-effectiveness study demonstrated that a new treatment can protect and, in many cases, improve the vision of people with diabetic macular edema," said NEI Director Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D.

Learn More

You can find more information at www.clinicaltrials.gov, www.nei.nih.gov and (301) 496-5248.

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