FDA Approves Lucentis for Diabetic Retinopathy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in people with diabetic macular edema (DME), according to the drug's manufacturer Genentech. DME impacts nearly 750,000 Americans, about 10 percent of people with DR. The FDA granted Lucentis Breakthrough Therapy Designation and Priority Review for this indication based on results from the RISE and RIDE Phase III clinical trials. For a few years, physicians have used the drug "off label" to treat DR. Read more.

Native American Ancestry Risk Factor for Eye Disease

“New research, led by the University of Southern California (USC) Eye Institute, part of Keck Medicine of USC, shows for the first time that Native American ancestry is a significant risk factor for vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy among Latinos with Type 2 diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults in the United States, affecting more than 4 million Americans age 40 and older,” according to Medical News Today. “The research was published online in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, the peer-reviewed academic journal of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the largest and most respected eye and vision research organization in the world” Read more.

New Computer Program Offers Refer/No-refer for Retinal Exams

"A computer program to screen for diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding condition that may affect every person with diabetes, has been developed by scientists." So goes the post on Science Daily. "EyeArt is a patent-pending, fully automated set of tools able to quickly offer a refer/no-refer recommendation based on images taken of a patient’s retina. Researchers found it to be as accurate as trained specialists in screening for the eye disease." Read more.

New Warning Signs of Diabetic Retinopathy Discovered

“Indiana University researchers have detected new early-warning signs of the potential loss of sight associated with diabetes. This discovery could have far-reaching implications for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy, potentially impacting the care of over 25 million Americans,” according to Medical News Today. “These important early-warning signs were invisible to existing diagnostic techniques, requiring new technology based on adaptive optics. Stephen Burns, professor and associate dean at the IU School of Optometry, designed and built an instrument that used small mirrors with tiny moveable segments to reflect light into the eye to overcome the optical imperfections of each person's eye.” Read more.

Diabetics Not Getting Necessary Vision Treatment

“Despite recent advances in prevention and treatment of most vision loss attributed to diabetes, a new study shows that fewer than half of Americans with damage to their eyes from diabetes are aware of the link between the disease and visual impairment, and only six in 10 had their eyes fully examined in the year leading up to the study,” according to Science Daily. “The research, described online on Dec. 19 in JAMA Ophthalmology, also found that nearly half of those with diabetes and eye damage had not visited a clinician charged with managing their disease in that same time period.” Read more.

Electronic Eyewear Said to Assist Those with AMD, Diabetic Retinopathy, Glaucoma

"Officials from New Scale Technologies Inc. of Victor, N.Y. announced that its miniature M3-F focus module is a key component in the innovative new eSight eyewear, a new class of wearable, electronic assistive technology launched in 2012 by eSight Corp. of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada," reports Today's Medical Developments. "The eSight eyewear incorporates a high-resolution video camera and a high-contrast display for each eye, and is customized to enhance the remaining vision of individuals with conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and more. New Scale’s M3-F focus module enables precision focus of the camera lens, driven by eSight’s focus algorithms."

Diabetic Retinopathy on Rise

Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults in the United States, reports the National Eye Institute. According to recent studies funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), diabetic retinopathy, one of the most common and debilitating complications of diabetes, increased by 3.7 million new cases over the last decade. Read more.

Interrupting the Damage Caused by Diabetic Retinopathy

"Researchers at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center have identified a compound that could interrupt the chain of events that cause damage to the retina in diabetic retinopathy," according to Science Daily. "The finding is significant because it could lead to a novel therapy that targets two mechanisms at the root of the disease: inflammation and the weakening of the blood barrier that protects the retina." Read more.

NIH and NEI Create Great Site on Eye Care for the Elderly

It's a great website for those elderly patients who surf the web. It's called NIHSeniorHealth (nihseniorhealth.gov). And recently, the National Eye Institute contributed five vision-related topics to the enhanced version of NIHSeniorHealth. The National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine recently announced the expansion and updating of NIHSeniorHealth, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) health and wellness website designed for older adults. Visitors to the site can learn about ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat aging-related diseases and conditions including age-related macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and low vision.

Health information is one of the key topics that older adults search for online according to the Pew Research Center, and since its launch in 2003, NIHSeniorHealth has been an accessible source of reliable, up-to-date health information for adults 60 plus. Built to address cognitive and vision changes that commonly occur with age, NIHSeniorHealth includes senior-friendly features such as large type, simple navigation, and open-captioned videos that make the site especially easy for older adults to use. 

NEI and NHS Team Up to Study Ocular Immunology

The NEI, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has become the first U.S. government agency to develop a formal collaborative research and training agreement with the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS). The agreement was signed earlier this year. Human ocular immunology will be the initial focus of the collaboration. Human immune system response can lead to inflammation which has been associated with diseases such as uveitis, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy.

Screening for Retinopathy Bi-Annually

"Research carried out at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD), University of Exeter, has concluded that it would be a safe and cost-effective strategy to screen people with type 2 diabetes who have not yet developed diabetic retinopathy, for the disease once every two years instead of annually," reports Medical News Today. "The research is supported by funding from the National Institute for Health Research Peninsula Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (NIHR PenCLAHRC). It is published on-line in Diabetes Care." Read more.