As the guilt set in over too many days of inactivity and indulgence, I spent the last day of 2022 scanning the literature for some good eye-related news stories for the year ahead.
One hot topic showing great promise concerns the development of new oral drugs for diabetes management. The onward march of diabetes has been somewhat overshadowed in recent years by the pandemic, but all ECPs should be mindful of the frightening statistics showing both a rising incidence of the disease and its appearance in ever-younger patients. The potential impact on eye health is obvious.
Injectable drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists, work by acting on receptors to stimulate the production of insulin and are proving to be effective in minimising the effects of diabetes. They are also approved as a weight loss medication, with trials showing them to reduce obesity by nearly a quarter. This year should see the results of trials of oral GLP-1 agonists, which, fingers crossed, should play a major role in the fight against the disease. Assuming celebrity endorsements of their use for dieting do not cause too great a shortage.
It was also good to see that most recent analyses of current Covid-19 vaccines continue to support their safety, with ocular side effects (mostly uveitis) particularly rare. It is important for all primary care clinicians to continue to encourage patients, especially those at higher risk, to keep up-to-date with their boosters.
I was also interested to see that good old OCT and OCT-angiography can help in monitoring the effects of Covid-19. Recent studies have shown that, during the acute phase, there is a thickening of the RNFL layer and vascular density, which then subsides over the subsequent 12 months.
Finally, in the end of year quiz in the i newspaper, it was claimed that you miss 15 minutes of a film due to lid closure. Surely, this depends on the film?
- Do you have an idea for a clinical feature? Email the clinical editor bill.harvey@markallengroup.com.
- For details of how to submit a case study and earn an interactive CPD point for each of the domains, go to the CPD area of opticianonline.net.