Whether it is you or a member of the family suffering from diabetes, seeking medical intervention is certainly on top of your priority. Diabetes is a debilitating condition that happens when the body fails to process the glucose that it obtains from food.

Diabetic retinopathy is one form of diabetes that has been the primary cause of blindness particularly among Americans. In this condition, retina is damaged. One attributing factor to diabetic retinopathy is the presence of a protein known as VEGF or vascular endothelial growth factor. This type of protein weakens the part that functions to protect the retina from obstruction of blood flow.

A recent research conducted at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center discovered a compound that is believed to have the capacity to disrupt sequence of events that may lead to retinal damage in diabetic retinopathy. This substantial new finding can result to a form of therapy that can effectively direct the treatment to the weakening and inflammation of the retinal-blood barrier.

Drugs that target the protein VEGF have also shown positive effects to approximately 50% of diabetic retinopathy patients. However researchers believe that these drugs have inflammatory element that may act directly on the development of the disease.

The research conducted recently was able to detect a particular protein that serves as a significant target in controlling the development of the disease. This disease causes leaks in blood vessels. Anti-VEGF drug alone will not be able to effectively deliver treatment and this eventually leads to blindness.

The new compound discovered works by targeting aPKC or atypical protein kinase needed for VEGF to cause leaks in blood vessels.  At the moment, this research is still at its early stage. However, once research is complete, this new therapy is certain to deliver promising results.