Statins 'prevent diabetes-caused blindness'

Statins could prevent the blindness resulting from diabetes that could leave individuals requiring assisted living, new findings have revealed.

New research, published in journal Diabetologia, found that statins prevent free radicals located in the retina from killing nerves important to eyesight.

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the main causes of blindness in adults and usually occurs around ten to 15 years after an individual is diagnosed with the condition.

Lead author Azza El-Remessy, said: "The exciting part is that there are now treatment options that are proven to be safe that can be immediately translated to patients."

Meanwhile, research by scientists at the University of New South Wales in Australia has shown that the common cold could trigger type 1 diabetes in children.

They found that children with type 1 diabetes are ten times more likely to have had enterovirus infection than those without the condition.

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