[acb-diabetics] FW: [Accessible Devices Medical News] Pine BarkShown To Improve Circulation, Swelling And Visual Acuity In Early Diabetic Retinopathy

[Ken Metz]

So if Diabetic retinopathy is at such a high percentage, why then doesn't
the American Diabetes Association provide accessible format with its
materials?

KEN

 
-----Original Message-----
From: acb-diabetics-bounces at acb.org [mailto:acb-diabetics-bounces at acb.org]
On Behalf Of Shirley Roberts
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 3:12 PM
To: ACB Diabetics
Subject: [acb-diabetics] FW: [Accessible Devices Medical News] Pine
BarkShown To Improve Circulation,Swelling And Visual Acuity In Early
Diabetic Retinopathy



Shirley Roberts
n8lx at earthlink.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Parker at Vip conduit <Vipcomm at mchsi.com>
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 2:30 PM
To: Medical Research List <medical at accessible-devices.com>
Subject: [Accessible Devices Medical News] Pine Bark Shown To Improve
Circulation,	Swelling And Visual Acuity In Early Diabetic Retinopathy

Pine Bark Shown To Improve Circulation, Swelling And Visual Acuity In Early
Diabetic
Retinopathy
Article Date: 03 Dec 2009 - 5:00 PST
According to the National Institute of Health, 40 percent to 45 percent of
Americans
diagnosed with diabetes already have some stage of diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic retinopathy, damage to
the retina caused by leaky blood vessels, is a major cause of blindness in
people
with diabetes and is one of the most feared diabetic complications. In fact,
up to
80 percent of all patients who've had diabetes for 10 years or more will
experience
some form of diabetic retinopathy.
A recent study published in the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and
Therapeutics
 reveals PycnogenolR (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the
bark
of the French maritime pine tree, can improve microcirculation, retinal
edema and visual acuity in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy.
"Previous research has shown that PycnogenolR may reduce the progressing
advanced
stages of diabetic retinopathy," said Dr. Robert Steigerwalt, a lead
researcher of
the study. "While previous studies focused on the latent stages of diabetic
retinopathy,
the aim of this new study was to show the protective effects of PycnogenolR
in the
early stages of this growing diabetic complication."
The randomized controlled study, conducted by G D'Annunzio University in
Italy, investigated
a total of 46 diabetic patients over a period of three months. The
PycnogenolR treatment
group consisted of 24 patients, with 22 patients placed in a placebo
treatment group.
Each of the patients had been previously diagnosed with diabetes for at
least four
years prior to participating in the study and their blood glucose was well
controlled
by diet and oral anti-diabetic medication. Patients had early stage
retinopathy characterized
by capillaries in the eye leaking fluid into the retina causing swellings.
At this
stage only minor bleedings into the retina occur and damage to light-sensing
cells
may still remain largely reversible.
Subjects were treated with three 50 mg PycnogenolR tablets (total 150 mg. of
PycnogenolR)
or placebo tablets in the morning after breakfast over a period of three
months.
Following treatment with PycnogenolR, the major positive observation of this
study
was visual improvement, which was subjectively perceived by 18 out of 24
patients
in the PycnogenolR group. Testing of visual acuity using the Snellen Chart
(the standard
eye chart used by eye care professionals to measure visual acuity) showed a
significant
improvement from baseline 14/20 to 17/20 after two months of treatment with
PycnogenolR.
There were no improvements found in the control group.
The retina is considered swollen when the diameter of the macula exceeds 500
micro
meters and treatment with PycnogenolR significantly decreased the swellings
below
that level, as judged by the high resolution ultrasound imaging used in the
study.
Furthermore, the blood flow velocity in capillaries nourishing the light
sensing
cells improved. The authors suggest that both effects account for the
improved vision
of patients. In the control group, retinal edema was not relieved, blood
flow velocity
remained unaffected and no visual improvements occurred.
In contrast, all 22 subjects in the control group maintained the same
diabetic macular
swellings as they were diagnosed with at the beginning of the study.
"PycnogenolR has been intensively investigated for decades to stop the
progression
of diabetic retinopathy and help patients to maintain their remaining eye
sight,"
said Dr. Steigerwalt. "Our study suggests that PycnogenolR taken in the
early stages
of retinopathy may enhance retinal blood circulation accompanied by a
regression
of edema, which favorably improves vision of patients. PycnogenolR may be
particularly
beneficial for preventing this complication in diabetic patients, based on
the large
number of individuals who were diagnosed when the disease had already
significantly
progressed."
Over the past decade, numerous studies have been published on Pycnogenol'sR
health
benefits for people living with diabetes. Most notably, research results on
five
clinical studies with over 1,000 diabetes patients showed that PycnogenolR
has the
ability to seal leaky capillaries in the eye. This capability impedes the
progression
of vision loss in patients suffering from diabetic retinopathy.
Source: Nikki Snodgrass
MWW Group
www.accessible-devices.com



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