Complications of diabetes reduced by injectable steroids

According to a finding appearing in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, injecting the corticosteroid triamcinolone directly into the eye can considerably slow down the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that can result in loss of vision and blindness.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Corticosteroids have been shown to interfere with the creation of new blood vessels, possibly by reducing the production of compounds that spur their growth, the authors note. However, steroids are also associated with other eye diseases.

“Use of this intravitreal [injected into the eye] corticosteroid preparation to reduce the likelihood of progression of retinopathy is not warranted at this time because of the increased risk of glaucoma and cataract associated with intravitreal steroid use,” the authors write. “Any treatment to be used routinely to prevent proliferative diabetic retinopathy likely needs to be relatively safe because the condition already can be treated successfully and safely with panretinal photocoagulation. Nevertheless, further investigation with regard to the role of pharmacotherapy for reduction of the incidence of progression of retinopathy appears to be warranted.”

Neil M. Bressler, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues in the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network conducted the study that involved 840 eyes of 693 participants having macular edema.

Tags: corticosteroid, diabetic retinopathy, steroid, triamcinolone

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