March 10, 2015 -Preventing Vision Loss

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Anchor lead: Vision loss related to diabetes can be caught early and treated, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Three medications that are injected directly into the eye can be used to halt vision loss due to diabetes, with one of them clearly best when moderate loss has already taken place, a multicenter study led by Neil Bressler, a Johns Hopkins ophthalmologist, has shown.

Bressler: We would like to catch the swelling in the retina as soon as we can, so these treatments can be done when the vision is only mildly impaired.  If though someone comes in when the vision is moderately or substantially impaired, then we do likely want to consider Eylea.  On the other hand if we are able to identify people who have this swelling of the retina when there’s just mild vision loss then indeed we might consider that on average all three of these work the same.  :27

If you have a copay or must pay out of pocket for treatment, the medications differ greatly in price, so keeping abreast of your eye health is likely your best strategy. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.