Ruboxistaurin mesylate reduces vision loss in diabetes, US study reveals

An apparent breakthrough method of treating diabetic retinopathy has successfully been trialled in the US.

The new diabetic drug ruboxistaurin mesylate can reduce sustained moderate vision loss by 41 per cent in patients with severe non-proliferative (or preproliferative) diabetic retinopathy, a trail has found. The results of a large multicentre study were announced at the American Diabetes Association’s 66th Scientific Sessions which were held in Washington last weekend.

Diabetic retinopathy is the commonest cause of sight loss in the UK’s working age group population. In Britain, approximately 1.8m people are diagnosed with diabetes and are therefore at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy.

Approximately another million people have not been diagnosed and are consequently unaware of their risk, and diabetic eye disease causes 3.4 per cent of vision loss in people aged over 75 in the UK.