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If you have diabetes or know someone who does, you probably know that one of the most serious problems resulting from diabetes – especially if the diabetes is out of control, increases in severity or has been a long term issue – is blindness.
This does not happen over night, in fact, it doesn’t always happen.

Diabetes-related retinal damage usually happens gradually over time. If diabetes can be controlled especially if diet is carefully monitored, retinal damage may be limited.  This is an issue that individuals with diabetes must watch carefully.

There is good news that has been discovered regarding help for those who are dealing with diabetes-related retinal damage.  Medical College of Georgia researchers have recently discovered that a painkiller called pentazocine may help the diabetes-related retinal damage that leads to vision loss and possible blindness. 

Dr. Sylvia Smith is co-director of the Vision Discovery Institute at Medical College of Georgia’s Medical Center.  She is also a retinal cell biologist and has stated that “the effects of this drug on retinal health are phenomenal.” 

During the study, Dr. Smith studied retinas of mice and compared retinas treated with pentazocine with those who did not receive the medication.  In her findings she states that the differences were staggering and extremely encouraging.  “The findings strongly suggest that the drug and compounds related to it that bind to the sigma receptor in the eye may help treat the two leading causes of vision loss – diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.”  

Dr. Smith also discovered in the study that the medication did not affect the levels of insulin in the body.  She notes, however, that “just because one happens to have diabetes or is hyperglycemic, does not mean that they will have diabetic retinopathy.”

More studies by Dr. Smith and her team are being planned including studies on mice without sigma receptors to determine whether or not pentazocine would be effective in mice with other types of retinal disease.