Affordable Diabetes Drug Tied to Lower Risk of Vision-Threatening Eye Disease
Millions of people with diabetes take metformin every day to manage their blood sugar, typically spending less than $10 a month for the generic version. Now researchers from the University of Liverpoohave found the drug might also help protect against progression to a vision-threatening stage of a leading cause of blindness in older adults. In a five-year study of more than 2,000 people, those taking metformin were 37% less likely to develop a dangerous stage of age-related macular degeneration.
Age-related macular degeneration slowly destroys the central part of your vision, the part you need to read, drive, and recognize faces. It’s one of the most common causes of blindness in wealthy nations. Treatments for advanced stages cost thousands of dollars and don’t work well long-term. Finding a cheap, safe drug that could slow the disease before serious vision loss would change everything about how doctors handle this condition.
Researchers from the University of Liverpool took advantage of a unique opportunity. People with diabetes in Liverpool get their eyes photographed annually to check for diabetes-related damage. The scientists realized they could look at these same photos to track macular degeneration at the same time. They randomly selected 2,545 people aged 50 and older who had clear eye photos from 2011, then checked back in 2016 to see whose vision had worsened.
