Fresh drug beats typical diabetic vision loss cures

(MENAFN) The drug Eylea offered greater gains in vision than Avastin during the first year of treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME) patients with worse eyesight, based on research results.

Eylea did about as well as other drugs already used for DME when it came to patients with mild vision loss, but offers doctors another option when bearing in mind possible side effects.

Moreover, DME is basically a blurring in the macula, the part of the retina used for central vision, caused by fluid dripping from blood vessels into the retina as a side effect of diabetes.

"The study suggests there is little advantage of choosing Eylea or Lucentis over Avastin when a patient's loss of visual acuity from macular edema is mild," said an experienced retinal specialist.