Herbal Turmeric Protects Diabetics Against Diabetic Retinopathy

By Kyle J. Norton

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the diabetes complication caused by long-term uncontrol levels of blood glucose in patients with diabetes, leading to vision loss.

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is swelling in an area of the retinal macula, a consequence of diabetic retinopathy.

The cause of diabetic retinopathy is a result of unmanageable high blood sugar from diabetes associated with damage to the tiny blood vessels in the retina.

Other eye diseases often found in patients with uncontrol blood glucose are

* Cataract, a condition of clouding of the eye’s lens.

Believe or not, patients with diabetes are 2-5 times more likely to develop cataract compared to a healthy individual.

* Glaucoma,  a group of diseases that damage the eye’s optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain. Diabetic has nearly doubled the risk of glaucoma, compared to nondiabetics.

At the early stage of hyperglycemia, most patients are asymptomatic. However, at the later stage, the condition affects vision caused bt eh bleeding from abnormal retinal blood vessels.

Conventionally, diabetic retinopathy diagnosed and treated early were found to reduce diabetic retinopathy risk by 95%. However, late-stage diabetic retinopathy may cause irreversible vision loss.

Please make sure you have eye exams more frequently for preventive measure.

By managing your blood glucose by changing lifestyle with moderate exercise and taking your medication as direct diabetic retinopathy may be preventable.

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to tropical South Asia.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic, colorant, antiseptic, wound healing agent, and to treat flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

In the urgency to find a potential ingredient for the prevention of diabetic complications, researchers examined the effect of curcumin, an active ingredient of turmeric on diabetic retinopathy.

In vivo, curcumin inhibited proliferation of retinal endothelial cells in tested animals.

Curcumolide, a bioactive compound found in turmeric, demonstrates a significant effect in alleviating retinal inflammatory activities both in vitro.

In vivo of STZ-induced diabetic rat model and in TNF-α-stimulated HUVECs, injection of curcumolide exerted anti-inflammatory effects against the inflammatory induction of retinal damage.

Furthermore, curcumolide also alleviated retinal vascular permeability and leukostasis and attenuated the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines in diabetic retinas.

Based on the findings, researchers wrote in the final report, "These data suggest potential treatment strategies against diabetic retinopathy, particularly in the early stages of the disease".

Taken altogether, turmeric processed a high amount of curcumolide may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of diabetic retinopathy, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of turmeric in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources

(1) Diabetic retinopathy: an Indian perspective by Rema M1, Pradeepa R. (PubMed)

(2) Therapeutic potential of curcumin in major retinal pathologies by Peddada KV1, Brown A2, Verma V3, Nebbioso M. (PubMed)

(3) Curcumolide reduces diabetic retinal vascular leukostasis and leakage partly via inhibition of the p38MAPK/NF-κ B signaling by Cai Y1, Li W1, Tu H1, Chen N1, Zhong Z1, Yan P1, Dong J. (PubMed)