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I N S I G H T

N e w s l e t t e r

Volume 2, Issue 7

In this issue:

November is Diabetic Eye Disease Month

More than 6 million Americans have diabetes and don’t know it. According to the Mayo Clinic, nearly half of all individuals with diabetes have some form of diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding eye disease.
Read More..

High-Sugar Foods May Affect Eyesight

Eating lots of sugary, starchy foods may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), America's top cause of vision loss.
Read More..

Glaucoma and Alzheimer's Diseases Linked

Scientists spot the same protein in both diseases; finding may inspire new glaucoma treatments
Read More..

Extras:

Other Sites: Hale-Qamar Cataract & LASIK Center

Northland Eye Care provides LASIK services co-managed with Hale-Qamar Cataract & LASIK Center of Scottsdale.
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November is Diabetic Eye Disease Month

More than 6 million Americans have diabetes and don’t know it. According to the Mayo Clinic, nearly half of all individuals with diabetes have some form of diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding eye disease. And, the number of those with diabetes is skyrocketing with a projected 48 million Americans by the year 2050.

Currently, diabetic retinopathy affects 5.3 million Americans. In addition to the impact that the disease can have on quality of life, diabetic retinopathy costs $490 million annually in direct costs for outpatient, inpatient and prescription drug services, according to a recent research study by Prevent Blindness America and Johns Hopkins University.

Read more by visiting Prevent Blindness America.

High-Sugar Foods May Affect Eyesight

Carbs High on the Glycemic Index May Increase
Age-Related Macular Degeneration

July 13, 2007 - Eating lots of sugary, starchy foods may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), America's top cause of vision loss.

AMD typically starts late in life. It affects the retina, located in the center of the eye. AMD can cause vision loss. Previous research shows that diets rich in antioxidants might help prevent AMD.

The new study adds one more diet tip: Go for carbohydrates that don't make your blood sugar spike quickly.

Glycemic Index

Nearly 4,100 U.S. adults aged 55-80 took part in the study. They completed dietary surveys and had their eyes checked for AMD.

The dietary surveys listed 90 foods. Participants noted how often and how much of those foods they typically ate.

The researchers paid close attention to the glycemic index - a measure of how much certain foods raise blood sugar.

Sugary items and refined grains (such as white flour, which has the bran stripped out of it) are examples of foods that rank high on the glycemic index. Whole grains, legumes, and vegetables rank lower on the glycemic index.

Glycemic Index and AMD

The researchers tracked AMD by eye, not participant, because some people may have had AMD in one eye but not the other. Most eyes showed no signs of AMD. But 602 eyes had advanced AMD.

People with the diets highest on the glycemic index were the most likely to have advanced AMD in at least one eye. Those findings held when the researchers considered participants' age, gender, and other risk factors. The study doesn't show exactly what caused AMD. It's not clear that diet was solely responsible for any cases of AMD. Participants weren't followed over time, and they weren't asked to change their diets for the study.

However, the researchers estimate that a fifth of the advanced AMD cases in their study might have been prevented by eating foods low on the glycemic index.

For more information see Dr. Thomas or call us at (928) 226-9300.

Glaucoma and Alzheimer's Diseases Linked

Scientists Spot the Same Protein in Both Diseases;
Finding May Inspire New Glaucoma Treatments

Scientists announced that Alzheimer's disease and glaucoma share a risky protein called amyloid beta. Targeting amyloid beta with Alzheimer's drugs may help treat glaucoma, according to the researchers, M. Francesca Cordeiro, MRCP, PhD, and colleagues. Cordeiro works at the Glaucoma and Retinal Degeneration Research Group at University College London's Institute of Ophthalmology.

Amyloid beta is a key ingredient of the brain plaque seen in Alzheimer's patients and is also associated with glaucoma, studied in rats, new research shows. Due to glaucoma, the rats lost the nerve cells in their eyes that transfer visual information from the eye to the brain, the researchers report. As that happened, amyloid beta built up in the area where those nerve cells had been.

To try to thwart that process, the scientists targeted amyloid beta with various types of drugs. That strategy reduced the number of nerve cells in the rats' eyes that died. The researchers got the best results when they gave the rats three types of drugs at once, instead of just one drug.

Cordeiro notes that "this doesn't mean that everyone with Alzheimer's will develop glaucoma or vice versa. "We have shown that amyloid beta could be a particularly suitable target for therapeutic intervention in the eye, to help protect those nerve cells that glaucoma ravages” writes Cordeiro and colleagues. However, further research is needed to see if that approach will work in people.

Know what your risks are. Come see us or call (928) 226-9300.