A drug taken for decades by millions of people with type 2 diabetes to prevent heart attacks, strokes and deaths offered no benefit in a broad group of patients, a study released Sunday shows. Fenofibrate, sold as Tricor, lowers triglycerides and boosts good cholesterol, seemingly lowering heart risk. But in most type 2 diabetes patients, it failed to achieve the goal of reducing a combination of heart attacks, strokes and deaths, says lead investigator Henry Ginsberg of Columbia University.

Editor’s Note: Diabetic sufferers are at high risk of onset of diabetic retinopathy which can lead to permanent vision loss. Click Here for information on nutrients (such as alpha lipoic acid, taurine, bilberry, lutein, omega-3 fatty acids) related to helping preserve vision for those with diabetes.

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Red grapes and dark chocolate join blueberries, garlic, soy, and teas as ingredients that starve cancer while feeding bodies, Angiogenesis Foundation head William Li said at a prestigious TED Conference.

The Massachusetts-based foundation is identifying foods containing chemicals that evidently choke-off blood supplies to tumors, starving them to death.

Editor’s Note: A growing body of research is showing antioxidants in red wine and dark chocolate help prevent eye diseases such as macular degeneration. For more related research, Click Here

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In this study, subjects with high levels of plasma zeaxanthin had a 93% reduced risk of AMD. Globally, subjects with high total plasma lutein and zeaxanthin had a 79% reduced risks of AMD compared with subjects with low total plasma lutein and zeaxanthin.

Ref: IOVS, June 2006, Vol. 47, No. 6

Zeaxanthin is a yellow phytonutrient pigment located in many fruits and vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, goji berry, kale, turnip greens, collard greens, kiwifruit, and Brussel sprouts.

For more information on related research studies and macular degeneration, Click Here

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Nurses’ Health Study and the Beaver Dam Eye Study, have found a lower risk of cataracts or cataract progression in those who took high levels of vitamin C.  Women who consumed the most vitamin E from food and supplements, about 262 mg a day ( approximately the equivalent of 3 cups of almonds)were 14% less likely to develop cataracts than those who consumed only 4 mg a day.

For more related studies on nutrition and cataracts, go to naturaleyecare.com/studies_bydisease.asp?s_num=2&disease=Cataracts

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According to 2007 data from the National Institutes of Health, 25% of Americans 20 years and older had abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood—a pre-diabetic state. That number leapt to 35% in individuals 60 and older. Extrapolating from the total US population, nearly 60 million American adults may now be pre-diabetic. (reference available at http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/DM/PUBS/statistics/#youngpeople. Accessed November 30, 2009).

• Roughly 1 in 5 Americans are pre-diabetic, a result of excess carbohydrate consumption.
• The digestive enzymes sucrase, amylase, and glucosidase are primarily responsible for enabling carbohydrate absorption into the blood.
• L-arabinose—a natural but largely indigestible sugar—blocks sucrase activity, preventing the sugar sucrose from entering the bloodstream.
• Extracts of white bean, seaweed, and Irvingia block the breakdown of starch in the intestine, preventing their calories from being absorbed.
• Green tea extract helps your body burn additional calories at rest.
• Collectively, these natural compounds may dramatically inhibit total carbohydrate intake, limit postprandial blood sugar and insulin spikes, and generate weight loss.

Editor’s Note: For more information on nutrition, diabetes and disbetic retinopathy, Click Here

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Study shows that low levels of vitamin D3 is linked to an increase in the prevalence of macular degeneration.

Ref: Parekh N, Chappell RJ, Millen AE, Albert DM, Mares JA. Association Between Vitamin D and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 Through 1994. Arch Ophthalmol. May 2007;125: 661-669.

Editor’s Note: Vitamin D3 is one of the super nutrients that should be part of everyone’s diet, and should be added as a supplement particularly for people who do not get much exposure daily to the sun. Numerous studies have shown Vitamin D3 as helping prevent cancer, improve immune function and bone health, regulate insulin and blood pressure, and more.

For more information on nutrition and macular degeneration, go to www.naturaleyecare.com/macular_degen_short.asp?d_num=8

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Controlled trials have shown that extracts of Ginkgo Biloba can significantly improve visual acuity in ARMD patients within six months of use.* And both animal and human studies have revealed that Ginkgo extract can help to prevent retinal detachment, while increasing antioxidant activity in patients’ blood, tears and plasma.**

* Fies P, Dienel A. [Ginkgo extract in impaired vision--treatment with special extract EGb 761 of impaired vision due to dry senile macular degeneration] [Article in German]. Wien Med Wochenschr. 2002;152(15-16):423-6.

** Karazhaeva MI, Saksonova EO, Klebanov GI, Liubitskii OB, Gur’eva NV. [The use of flavonoid antioxidants in the complex treatment of patients with peripheral vitreo-chorioretinal dystrophies and dystrophic retinal detachment] [Article in Russian]. Vestn Oftalmol. 2004 Jul-Aug;120(4):14-8.

** Baudouin C, Ettaiche M, Imbert F, Droy-Lefaix MT, Gastaud P, Lapalus P. Inhibition of preretinal proliferation by free radical scavengers in an experimental model of tractional retinal detachment. Exp Eye Res. 1994Dec;59(6):697-706.

Editor’s Note: For more related information and studies, go to www.naturaleyecare.com

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Updated research continues to show the effectiveness of using eyedrops with 1% n-acetyl-carnosine solutions for preventing and managing cataracts. Research also indicates these eyedrops may help other eye conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, primary open-angle glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

Dr. Babizhayev and colleagues published their study in American Journal of Therapeutics (N-Acetylcarnosine Lubricant Eyedrops Possess All-In-One Universal Antioxidant Protective Effects of L-Carnosine in Aqueous and Lipid Membrane Environments, Aldehyde Scavenging, and Transglycation Activities Inherent to Cataracts: A Clinical Study of. American Journal of Therapeutics, UNKNOWN DATE;16(6):517-533).

Editor’s Note: For information on Can-C eyedrops (1% n-acetyl-carnosine eyedrops), go to www.naturaleyecare.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=1831

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In 2009, Dr. Jean Bennett and his team from Albert Maguire of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine injected a benign virus carrying a connected copy of an essential gene into a teenage boy’s retina. This patient had lost vision due to a genetic disorder called “Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LGA).

The result was improved vision as the gene therapy enabled the body to make new rods and cones (which normally are irreplaceable once lost).

Other young patients given the same procedure also were able to see better.  This remarkable procedure is in a Phase I clinical trial, published in Lancet.

Reference Study: http://tinyurl.com/ydfhlf2

Reported from www.naturaleyecare.com

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After years of clinical trials, research clearly shows that stem cell-derived retinal cells can rescue visual function in animals that otherwise would have gone blind.

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced that it filed an Investigational  New Drug (IND) Application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase I/II multicenter study using embryonic stem cell derived retinal cells to treat patients with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD).

For nutritional information related to Stargardt’s Disease, go to http://www.naturaleyecare.com/diseases.asp?d_num=23

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