Category: Diabetic Retinopathy

Are Grains Always Good For You? Potential Diabetes Risk

 

Though we have often heard that whole grains are an essential part of a healthy diet, but this may not be true for everyone. According to Dr. Mercola, over 85% of Americans have trouble controlling their insulin levels which is related to the development of diabetes.

Eating carbohydrate-containing foods, whether high in sugar or high in starch (such as bread – even organic, whole-grain bread, potatoes, processed breakfast cereals, and rice), temporarily raises blood sugar and insulin levels. The blood sugar-raising effect of a food, called its “glycemic index,” depends on how rapidly its carbohydrate is absorbed. People eating large amounts of foods with high glycemic indices, have been reported to be at increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

However, diets high in total carbohydrates do not necessarily increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and some studies have found no independent relationship between sugar intake and the development of glucose intolerance.

For more on natural diabetes treatment and prevention as well as information on the related condition diabetic retinopathy, please visit our website.

New Diagnostic Tools for Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Degeneration in Development

Scientists have found a new way to screen patients for common eye diseases using LED technology.  An article in Review of Scientific Instruments describes the new system which uses six different wavelengths of light to illuminate the eyeball.

Using light-absorbing compounds already present in the eye, researchers are finding a way to capture better diagnostic images by working with the way different pigments appear in multispectral images.  One advantage of this new diagnostic procedure is its speed – it can capture images quickly enough to avoid distortion caused by natural eye movements.

It is hoped that this technology can be developed further and be made widely available to optometrists and ophthalmologists seeking the best diagnostic tool for their patients when screening for such eye diseases as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Source: scienceblog.com

Researchers from around the country are working together to adapt the technologies that allow astronomers to observe distant galleries so that eye doctors can better examine the retina even through imperfections on the lens and cornea.  These adaptive optics–optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) systems could be the wave of the future for eye disease diagnosis.

Source: Scientific American.

Diabetic Retinopathy Patients Have Lower Lycopene Levels

Measuring serum lycopene levels may help doctors diagnose and evaluate patients with diabetic retinopathy.

A recent study finds that lycopene levels were significantly lower in individuals with diabetes. According to the study, “subjects with proliferative diabetic retinopathy had significantly lower lycopene levels than subjects without diabetic retinopathy or with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy.”

This study and others have found that oxidative stress is related to the  development of microvascular complications (conditions related to diabetes including include diabetic nephropathy, diabetic neuropathy, and diabetic retinopathy)  in patients with diabetes.  Lycopene has been found to play a role in the prevention of oxidative stress-related disease.

Lycopene is found in its high levels in tomatoes, but apricots, guava, watermelon, papaya, and pink grapefruit are also significant sources.

 

White rice tied to higher risk of diabetes

A US-based study on Monday linked eating white rice to higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and backed long-held claims that brown rice is healthier than the white variety.

A 2010 study connected including white rice (as opposed to brown rice) to a greater likelihood of developing adult-onset diabetes.  It substantiated long-time reports that brown rice is more healthy than white.  The study investigated patients who ate a minimum of 5 white rice servings per week and found that they had a 17% higher risk of developing the conditions – compared to those who eat less than one serving per month.

Researchers: Harvard School of Public Health

Editor’s Note:  All refined foods – white rice rather than brown, white flour rather than whole wheat, highly refined sugars, grits rather than corn – would likely generate similar results because the outer husk contained the bulk of the nutrients has been removed.

Learn  more  about diabetes and diabetic retinopathy and guidelines for supplementing your diet with juicing to combat diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic Retinopathy Linked to Sleep Apnea

Research presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference indicates patients with diabetes who have retinopathy should also be screened for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

Research presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference indicates patients with diabetes who have retinopathy should also be screened for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) because evidence strongly suggests a link between the two conditions.  “We know from our earlier research that 23 percent of men with type 2 diabetes have OSA and this is under-recognized and under-treated,” said Sophie D. West, M.D., of the Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine in the United Kingdom, who led the research.”  Sleep apnea is marked by snoring, periods of when breathing stops during sleep, and daytime sleepiness.  OSA can be diagnosed through a sleep study and can be treated with the help of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device.

Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150754.php

Promising Therapies for Diabetic Macular Edema

Laser therapy, also called laser photocoagulation, is more effective and produces fewer side effects than corticosteroids injected into the eye for the treatment of diabetic macular edema according to a large, two-year multicenter study reported in the journal Ophthalmology (Volume 115, page 1447).

A new technique called photocoagulation is a form a therapy using a laser light.  It has been effective in treating diabetic macular edema – swelling – a condition that develops from untreated diabetes.  It is more effective and injecting corticosteroids in the eyes and has fewer side effects.

This was reported by researchers after a large two-year study of more than 600 people.

Published: Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 115, p. 1447

Editor’s Note: Learn  more about nutrition and diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

Vinpocetine shows promise for chronic inflammation

Findings reported in article published online on May 6, 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (see link below) suggest that vinpocetine, a derivative of vincamine (from the periwinkle plant), could be useful for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), arthritis, infectious diseases and cancer.

Researchers believe that  vinpocetine, which, according to wikipedia is a “semi-synthetic”  derivative of an extract of periwinkle, vincamine, could be very helpful for treating diseases connected to chronic inflammation. These include coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and a number of infectious diseases.

Because conditions such as macular edema and diabetic retinopathy are tied to inflammation, this derivative may be helpful for these conditions.

Published: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, May 6, 2010.

Tricor doesn’t reduce diabetics’ heart risk

A drug taken for decades by millions of people with type 2 diabetes to prevent heart attacks, strokes and deaths offered no benefit in a broad group of patients, a study released Sunday shows.

A 2010 study reports that Tricor (Fenofibrate) which has been taken by adult-onset diabetics in order to prevent heart attacks, strokes and deaths offers no benefit.  The product lowers triglycerides and raises good cholesterol, apparently lowering heart risk. But it failed to reduce  a combination of strokes, heart attacks  and deaths in patients with adult-onset diabetes.

Researchers: Henry Ginsberg, and associates, Columbia University.

Editor’s Note: Diabetic sufferers are at high risk of onset of diabetic retinopathy which can lead to permanent vision loss. Learn about information on nutrients (such as alpha lipoic acid, taurine, bilberry, lutein, omega-3 fatty acids) related to helping preserve vision for those with diabetes.

Procyanidins Benefit Microcirculation in Early Diabetic Retinopathy

A new study now reports that pine bark extract (which contains procyanidins) may extend vision-saving benefits to diabetics with early stage retinopathy by improving retinal blood flow and inducing regression of edema.

A 2010 study suggests that pine bark extract (containing procyanidins) may be helpful to diabetics who have early diabetic retinopathy through improved retinal blood flow and lowering swelling edema.

About 40-50% of Americans who have been diagnosed with diabetes already have some stage of diabetic retinopathy, according to NIH.

Learn more about management of diabetic retinopathy.

Reference: Steigerwalt R, et al. Pycnogenol® improves microcirculation, retinal edema, and visual acuity in early diabetic retinopathy. J Ocular Pharmacol Therap 25:537-40, 2009.

Killer Carbohydrates & Diabetes

According to 2007 data from the National Institutes of Health, 25% of Americans 20 years and older had abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood—a pre-diabetic state. That number leapt to 35% in individuals 60 and older.

One quarter of Americans over 20 years old have abnormally high glucose levels – which is considered to be pre-diabetic. By the time Americans are 60 or older the percentage rises to 35%.  Considering the US population data, as of 2009, about 60,000,000 citizens are pre-diabetic and at very high risk of developing diabetes.

  • Due to excess carbohydrates in the diet, about 20% of Americans are pre-diabetic.
  • Carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood primarily due to the digestive enzymes amylase, sucrase, and glucosidase.
  • However, L-arabinose – a natural, mostly indigestible sugar – blocks sucrase activity, preventing sugar sucrose from moving into the bloodstream.
  • Similarly, extracts of seaweed, white beans, and Irvingia block starch breakdown  in the intestine, preventing these calories from being absorbed into the bloodstream.
  • Green tea extract helps your body metabolize additional calories while you are not active.
  • All together these are  natural compounds that have the potential to dramatically slow total carbohydrate intake, limit blood sugar and insulin spikes after meals, and help support weight loss.

Editor’s Note: See more information on nutrition, diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

Sources: National Institutes of Health, 2007, 2009