One of the most common complications of type 2 diabetes patients is the so-called Diabetic retinopathy, a disease that affects the blood vessels of the eye tissue and affects the 80% of diabetes casesaccording to research recently published in the journal Nutrients. Its main cause is the prolonged increase in blood glucose over long periods, something that can ultimately cause vision loss and blindness.
The surprising link between caffeine and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
Now thanks to a new international studio in which members of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) have participated, has discovered that moderate and high caffeine intake can have a positive effect in these patients. Specifically, it is associated with a 65% reduction of the possibilities of suffering from this eye condition in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The new study relates moderate and high caffeine consumption with a reduction of up to 65% of suffering from this eye disease.
“The research showed a close relationship between caffeine consumption and the reduction in the incidence of retinopathy in patients without other late diabetic complications,” explains Minerva Granado, a researcher at IRBLleida, professor at the University of Lleida (UdL) and the Research Center Biomédica in the Network of Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM), who affirms that, although the finding it is not conclusive, the results of the research “allow us to take an important step in the impact of ophthalmology on people with diabetes”.
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Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease caused by a lack of oxygen to the retina caused by diabetes.
Specifically, the researchers conducted a survey of 144 patients affected by diabetic retinopathy and 147 who did not have this condition, data that were analyzed by an experienced ophthalmologist.
In the study, the center’s staff administered a questionnaire on the frequency of food consumption to the people participating in the project, data that was later contrasted with a experiment carried out on 20 mice, to whom a drop of caffeine was randomly administered directly to the surface of the cornea twice a day for two weeks. However, the experimental model no corroborated data collected in human surveys.
“Further studies are needed to establish the benefits and mechanisms of caffeinated beverages in the development of diabetic retinopathy. In addition, it is important to take into account that, in addition to coffee, there are also other beverages that contain caffeine, so there are other compounds that may play a fundamental role in the prevention of these pathologies”, explains the researcher.
Relationship between caffeine and diabetes
Although it will be future scientific research those responsible for providing conclusive data, On the role of caffeine in cases of retinopathies, the scientific literature has indeed found a relationship between caffeine consumption and diabetes.
Among them, a recent study concluded that higher levels of caffeine in the blood were associated with a lower body mass index and a lower amount of fat, conclusions that open a new avenue of study for the treatment of this and other diseases. metabolic.
Lack of oxygen to the retina
Diabetic retinopathy is a eye disease caused by medical complications derived from diabetes. In these cases, the increase in blood glucose over a long period causes progressive alteration of the blood vessels of the eye that block the supply of oxygen to the retinawhich translates into microaneurysms, hemorrhages, and loss of lipids and proteins from within the damaged capillaries.
At the same time, this stimulates the growth of more blood vessels that try to make up for the irrigation deficit, which ends up producing irreversible damage to the retina to the point of causing vision loss or blindness.
Type 2 diabetes, a modern epidemic
On the other hand, type 2 diabetes, the sixth leading cause of death worldwide, has become a modern epidemic that worries health authorities. This disease, more common than type 1, occurs as a consequence of the elevated presence of blood glucose levels due to the body’s resistance to insulin, the hormone secreted by the pancreas that allows glucose to enter the cells.
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The paradox is that, despite being a very common disease, it is a perfectly preventable ailment, since its causes are perfectly known and combatable. It is known, for example, that diabetes is a highly obesity related, with which the practice of physical exercise or a balanced diet are especially useful strategies to combat it. Thus, the intake of fewer calories causes the body to do not consume more glucose than necessary, thereby maximizing cellular insulin consumption.
On the other hand, physical exercise helps fight the disease in different ways: on the one hand, it helps make cells more sensitive to insulin, while indirectly it helps prevent overweight and obesity, two pathologies directly related to diabetes.