One of the most heartbreaking results of having diabetes is loss of vision, and even full blindness. New research offers hope that future generations will not have to suffer through this devastation.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the world's leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, announced today that JDRF-funded researchers have identified a group of proteins that may play critical roles in causing blood vessel leakage in the eyes of people with two forms of diabetic retinopathy.

These findings result from years of research conducted by Edward Feener, Ph.D., and his team of investigators at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, and are published in the Jan. 28, 2007, online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

This is truly uplifting news. As always, let us be appreciative of the wonderful people who strive to improve our lives.