| Damage from diabetes can occur in different | | | | such complications will progress. |
| areas of the eye. It can occur to the cornea, | | | | What Works Best? |
| nerves controlling the muscles of the eye, the | | | | Unfortunately, there are very few options that |
| lens, optic nerve and retina. The retina is the | | | | are showing much promise for the diabetic in |
| complication that most people and medical | | | | terms of diabetic complications. Benfotiamine has |
| professionals think of first in terms of diabetic | | | | been suggested recently to be a strong deterrent |
| complications. | | | | against the development of diabetic retinopathy |
| Diabetic retinopathy is simply damage to the light | | | | and also shown to slow its progression significantly |
| sensitive retina. This damage is brought about by | | | | if it develops. It is showing great promise in the |
| hyperglycemia, the medical term for high blood | | | | arena of retinopathy, neuropathy and heart |
| sugar. Retinopathy is directly responsible for | | | | circulatory conditions brought about by excess |
| approximately 12,000 to 24,000 cases of legal | | | | sugar in the cells. |
| blindness every year in the USA alone. It is | | | | Benfotiamine, a lipid soluble derivative of water |
| reported that there are over 200,000 cases each | | | | soluble vitamin B1 (thiamine), has been used for |
| year globally. | | | | the past 12 years in Europe for the treatment of |
| Diabetic complications are even more insidious | | | | neuropathy, retinopathy as well as heart and |
| than these numbers because there are several | | | | circulatory conditions and has shown no adverse |
| other types of diabetic eye disease created | | | | effects. |
| wholly or in part by high blood sugar in diabetics. | | | | Much of the current research on benfotiamine can |
| What Can Be Done To Prevent Eye Disease? | | | | be discovered by typing the term benfotiamine |
| It stands to reason that the more informed a | | | | into a search engine such as google, AOL, yahoo, |
| person is about a particular situation the better | | | | etc. |
| equipped they will be to handle it. Diabetic eye | | | | Conclusion |
| disease is just such a case in point. We need to | | | | Diabetic complications are a reality that must be |
| think of the whole person and not just the eyes | | | | an accepted possibility for every diabetic. Diabetic |
| when discussing diabetic education because | | | | education is highly necessary so that the diabetic |
| diabetic complications run from eye disease, heart | | | | community is able to make informed decisions as |
| disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, etc. | | | | to their treatment and prevention methodologies. |
| Although benfotiamine has been found useful for | | | | There are few things that show great promise in |
| all of the above, for the sake of this article in | | | | preventing and/or helping neuropathy, retinopathy, |
| terms of prevention, we will discuss diabetic eye | | | | heart and circulatory problems brought about by |
| disease in terms of diabetic retinopathy. | | | | diabetes. Keeping blood sugar levels close to |
| Diabetic retinopathy is a disease that every | | | | normal along with adequate exercise in line with |
| diabetic faces the possibility of suffering from | | | | the abilities of each individual has shown to help |
| somewhere in the course of their disease. The | | | | slow the onset of diabetic complications. |
| better patients of diabetes are equipped to handle | | | | Benfotiamine is a nutritional supplement that has |
| their disease, the lower their risk that they will | | | | shown to be helpful in Europe over the past 12 |
| develop retinopathy. If retinopathy does develop | | | | years in terms of diabetic complications and is |
| in a patient who is doing all he/she can do to | | | | now available in the United States, and might be |
| lessen the impact of blood sugar on their bodies, | | | | worth the time to investigate further. How about |
| the better chance that they can live productive | | | | for the diabetic who faces the insidious nature of |
| lives despite the complications and the slower | | | | diabetic complications? |