Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic Retinopathy is a very common complication of diabetes Mellitus and one of the four common sight-threatening conditions in older adults in the developed countries. Almost 100% of patients with type I and 60% of type II diabetic patients will develop some degree of retinopathy in their lifetime.

                           Normal Vision                       Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) is a common complication of Diabetic Retinopathy, a disease affecting the blood vessels of the retina. A leading cause of blindness in younger adults (under 50), DME occurs when fluid leaks into the center of the macula, the light-sensitive part of the retina responsibl for sharp, direct vision. Fluid in the macula can cause severe vision loss or blindness. According to the National Eye Institute, approximately 21 million individuals (~7% of the population) suffer from diabetes. Of the 4.1 million cases of Diabetic Retinopathy in the U.S., approximately 750,000 Americans currently suffer from DME, with 100,000 new cases arising each year. Industry experts expect the number of patients in the U.S. affected by DME to double, reaching perhaps 1.5 million Americans by 2010. According to the American Diabetes Association, 41 million Americans are experiencing the early effects of diabetes (sometimes called “pre-diabetes”) and at greater risk for developing diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control estimates 45 to 50 million Americans could have diabetes by 2050.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a rapidly growing retinal disease which primarily affects patients of age 50 years and older. Current prevalence rates in the US estimate that over 1.75 million citizens are afflicted with this disorder; however, as a consequence of the rapidly growing aging population, it is predicted that the number of persons afflicted with AMD will increase 50% to 2.95 million by 2020. 

                     Normal Vision                                     AMD

There are two major classifications of AMD, dry and wet. All patients initially present with dry-AMD which entails the accumulation of debris and deposits in the outer retina known as drusen and atrophic and hypertrophic changes in the retinal pigment epithelium. This disease can progress into the “wet” form of the disease, whereby choroidal neovascularization occurs and causes a leakage of plasma and fluid into the retina. Only 20% of all AMD patients have the wet form of the disease; however, 90% of blindness due to AMD is caused by wet-AMD. These patients present with loss of their central vision that progressively worsens with age. This causative loss of vision is largely in part an effect of the abnormal neovascularization that causes vascular leakage into the retina. The progressive vascular leakage can then lead to photoreceptor apoptosis and initiation of inflammatory pathways, which can permanently inhibit the potential for therapeutic intervention.