Nerve injury appears to be root of diabetes-related vision loss

Diabetes-related vision loss most often is blamed on blood vessel damage in and around the retina, but new research indicates that much of that vision loss may result from nerve cell injury that occurs long before any blood vessels are damaged.

The finding — from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis — may lead to new approaches to treating diabetes-related vision loss, called diabetic retinopathy, since many current treatments are aimed at damaged blood vessels.