Professor Naim Shehadeh, Director of
the Institute of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Rambam
Health Care Campus and President of the Israel Diabetes Association,
hypothesized that although hyperglycemia (abnormally high blood glucose
levels) is the major known risk factor for vision complications in
diabetics, exposure to sun-light may also be important. Common diabetic
symptoms include blurred vision, early onset of cataract and retinal
damage that can even lead to blindness - diabetes is the leading cause
of new vision loss in working-age adults (20-60 years old) worldwide.
Israel is at the cutting edge in diabetes research, with the third
highest mortality rate from diabetes among countries in the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
especially in the Israeli Arab population.
Many visual problems in diabetics are caused by changes in the lens
(cataract) or as a result of damage and reduced function in the
light-sensitive lining (retina) at the back of the eye (diabetic
retinopathy) followed by changes in the blood retinal barrier due to
leaky small blood vessels, retinal swelling and scarring. Since
controlling hyperglycemia slows down but does not prevent these visual
problems and their progression, other factors must contribute to
diabetic cataracts and retinopathy.
While our eyes are exposed to a wide spectrum of light during the day,
Professor Shehadeh and his Technion team hypothesized that exposure to
sun-light may play an important role in the development of eye damage
in diabetic patients. They exposed diabetic rats to different light
wavelengths from the visible sun-light spectrum and identified the
harmful light. The next step was to develop an optic filter that can
block and protect the eyes from those wavelengths. Results showed that
using the special optic filter glasses significantly decreased light
exposure by filtering out the short wavelengths (400–530 nm) thereby
reducing eye damage in diabetic rats, and may also benefit non diabetic
patients.Professor Shehadeh said the team felt driven as they had
nothing to offer diabetic patients with eye damage other than to
instruct them to try to control their blood glucose. Human trials will
start later this year to test the effect of the optical filters.
Prescription and non-prescription sunglasses with colored optic filters
will be available in the spring for Israeli consumers. The future goals
are to develop colorless filters that will offer the same protection –
in glasses, building and car windows…wherever they can slow down or
prevent vision loss in diabetics and perhaps non-diabetics.
"This is the essence of Israeli scientific and medical
innovation, offering hope to diabetes patients throughout the world at
risk of losing the precious gift of sight," said Richard S.
Hirschhaut, National Director of the American Friends of Rambam Medical
Center.
Professor Naim Shehadeh, Director of the Institute of Diabetes,
Endocrinology and Metabolism at Rambam Health Care Campus and President
of the Israel Diabetes Association. Credit: RHCC
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