Free Republic

An investigation finds empagliflozin (sold as Jardiance) may reduce the risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression in patients with a history of nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) but showed no association with preventing new NPDR onset. DR is one of the most common complications of type 2 diabetes, affecting 26% of patients in the United States in 2021. It is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss among working-age adults. Empagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) primarily developed for glucose control, has shown benefits for cardiovascular and renal outcomes in past clinical trials. Its association with DR progression has remained unclear....

In patients with diabetes and established diabetic retinopathy (DR), treatment with glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1RAs) is associated with increased risks of DR progression compared with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is), according to a study. Donna Shu-Han Lin, M.D. and colleagues examined the effects of GLP1RAs and SGLT2is on the development or progression of DR. Analysis included 1,517 patients treated with a GLP1RA with DR and 9,549 without DR and 3,034 patients treated with an SGLT2i with DR and 19,098 without DR. The researchers found that in patients with preexisting DR, the incidence of any DR progression event was...

Research promises to spare many premature infants from undergoing invasive eye exams to detect retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), the most common cause of preventable lifelong blindness in children in the U.S. ROP is caused by an abnormal development of small blood vessels on the retina. Isabelle De Plaen, MD, and colleagues found that imaging the capillaries in the nailbed of preemies within the first month of life using a non-invasive technique, called nailbed capillaroscopy, can identify infants at high risk for developing ROP. This screening could eliminate the need to evaluate all premature infants with eye exams about a month...

Family member's friend and coworker was vaxxed early as a frontline worker. Dec 2020? They now have optic nerve inflammation and may be unable to work. Seems to me I read something about vax affecting vision/eyes, but cannot seem to find post or article. Any be would be appreciated.

BELLEVUE, WA – -(Ammoland.com)- You heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. Jay Carney said Obama will sign the UN Arms Trade Treaty “before the end of August…We believe it’s in the interest of the United States.” This is very strategic timing considering Congress is on a 5 week vacation lasting thru the month of August! These back door tactics are nothing new for the Obama Administration, which is why we are using tactics of our own to stop his anti-gun agenda. We have the home fax numbers of every Senator so while they are absent from the Capitol we...

UNIVERSITY of Sydney researchers could be on to a remedy to fight blindness caused by long-term diabetes. Lead researcher Professor Basil Roufogalis said pharmacy researchers have identified the ancient Tibetan goji berry could help fight diabetic retinopathy. "Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness for people with diabetes, with up to 60 per cent of people living with either type one or type two diabetes developing chronic hyperglycaemia, a condition which can damage retina cells," he said. Prof Roufogalis said the goji berry is abundant in taurine. "We found that goji berry protected against the death of cells caused...

Resveratrol — found in red wine, grapes, blueberries, peanuts and other plants — stops out-of-control blood vessel growth in the eye, according to vision researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The discovery has implications for preserving vision in blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in Americans over 50. The formation of new blood vessels, called angiogenesis, also plays a key role in certain cancers and in atherosclerosis. Conducting experiments in mouse retinas, the researchers found that resveratrol can inhibit angiogenesis. Another surprise was the pathway through...

BOSTON (AP) _ To doctors' amazement, experimental new medicines are rescuing people from the brink of blindness so they can read and drive and sometimes even regain perfect vision. These lucky few are the first beneficiaries of an entirely new category of drugs that many hope will revolutionize the care of common eye diseases. Several competing medicines are in development, all based on similar principles. They are designed to stop the two top causes of adult blindness _ the ``wet'' form of macular degeneration, which affects the elderly, and diabetic retinopathy, the biggest source of blindness in working-age people. Vision...