Tight diabetes control can help you ward off blindness

Lead author Emily Chew said that this study sends a powerful message to people with type 2 diabetes who worry about losing vision and added that well-controlled glycemia or blood sugar level has a positive, measurable and lasting effect on eye health.

Tight control successfully reduced glycemia to an average 6.4 per cent A1C — a measure of average blood glucose — compared to 7.7 per cent among participants on standard glycemic control therapy.  Although it failed to reduce cardiovascular disease risk — such as heart attack and stroke — the researchers found that the therapy had cut retinopathy progression by about one-third by the end of ACCORD. Results also point to a possible role for ongoing use of fenofibrate to treat diabetic retinopathy, if taken regularly.

Based on ACCORD findings, fenofibrate might be worth taking to control diabetic retinopathy progression. Other countries — including Australia — have approved fenofibrate for treating diabetic retinopathy but not the US, said Chew.

The study appeared in the journal Diabetes Care.