Custom Search
|
|
Blindness Could Be Prevented By Cholesterol Drug - What To Do
This drug that is touted to prevent blindness has been in the market for three decades now. It is only now they are finding this out. They were careful to study this for five whole years before releasing the result. I bet you are itching to know the name of this drug. Well, it is none other than fenofibrate. First of all, let us dig deeper into why diabetes and blindness go together like ham and eggs. Diabetes increases the risk for eye disease. Poor control of the blood glucose makes the capillaries in the eyes become fragile effectively blocking the blood supply to the retina. The trouble with this condition is that many are unaware of this eye damage. Only an eye exam will help discover this damage to the retina. That is why those who have had diabetes for over five years are encouraged to get an eye exam at least once a year. The good news is that total blindness is not common. In fact only less than 2% will experience total loss of vision. The fear, however, of getting this is so overwhelming that it can be used to motivate the diabetics into doing more self-care. This is one trouble with this condition. The ball is in your court and you have to do most of the work to manage diabetes. There are proven therapies such as photocoagulation. There are also biochemical interventions that may help prevent or even reverse the damage to the eyes. Some research studies have even shown that retinopathy has gone better by 76% with a well controlled blood glucose level. The reversals have not been proven yet as theories as it takes quite a few years before the hypothesis could be proven and documented. The buzz is that there is some improvement happening and one result that blindness could be prevented by cholesterol drugs is one. Fenofibrate, a cholesterol drug, has been found to reduce retinopathy in diabetics. Retinopathy is the foremost cause of blindness and now a new study from the University of Sydney reports that this cholesterol drug could save the diabetics from becoming blind. The researchers report that the participants of the study who took the drug every day reduced their risk of having laser therapy to make their eyesight better by a third. This is when compared to those who took a placebo pill. The research studied 10,000 diabetics who were between 50 and 70 years old for five years. There is a problem in the sense that people who do not have cholesterol problems may have to be medicated when there is no need for it. So can diet prevent blindness? There is also a buzz on omega-3 fatty acids as helping prevent eye damage. Mackerel, wild salmon, sardines and anchovies are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. So what is one to do? Do we take fish-oil supplements or eat foods rich on omega-3 fatty acids or take the cholesterol drugs? The ball is in your court. You and your doctor will have to decide what's best for you. Whatever that is, monitor how your body responds to any change you undertake and report them to proper authorities. Just make sure to undergo a digital retinal screening every year to stop this diabetes complication of blindness. Copyright © June 18, 2009 Roger Guzman, M.D. (Blindness Could Be Prevented By Cholesterol Drug - What To Do) All Rights Reserved. You may copy and publish this article as long as the text, the author's name, the active links and this notice remain the same. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Please visit these sites for more diabetes help: Free Alert Sign -Up Blindness and Diabetes Brief Biography: Dr. Guzman worked for the Atlantic Health Corporation and was consultant to St. Joseph's Hospital, Sussex Mental Health Clinic, and St. Stephen Mental Health Clinic for many years. He was Director of Forensic Psychiatry at Centracare. |
|