Print Flyers for Mecamylamine as Treatment for Diabetic Macular Edema

Filed in archive Developments , Did you know , Research , Treatment on April 8, 2010

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Diabetic macular edema is a complication of diabetes that, if left untreated, may result to vision impairment, blurriness, or blindness in diabetic patients. Currently, the standard of treatment for diabetic macular edema has been glycemic control, optimal blood pressure control, and macular focal/grid laser photocoagulation.

A new early-stage human clinical trial has shown that a new topical drug called mecamylamine, was safe and and may offer researchers a new approach to prevent and treat diabetic macular edema. In the study published recently in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, approximately 40% of the participants showed significant improvement in overall vision and/or the thickness of the retina after self-administration of mecamylamine eye drops twice a day for 16 weeks.

There aren't going to be any print flyers at your doctor's clinic for this treatment just yet, but these findings emphasize that multiple treatment options for diabetic macular edema must be explored. Soon enough, we'll see cheap flyers distributed in clinics and hospitals, but until then, more studies are still needed to establish this drug's effectivity and safety.