Retinal oxygen extraction in individuals with type 1 diabetes with no or mild diabetic retinopathy.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to compare retinal oxygen extraction in individuals with diabetes with no or mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and healthy age- and sex-matched volunteers. METHODS: A total of 24 participants with type 1 diabetes and 24 healthy age- and sex-matched volunteers were included in this cross-sectional study. Retinal oxygen extraction was measured by combining total retinal blood flow measurements using a custom-built bi-directional Doppler optical coherence tomography system with measurements of oxygen saturation using spectroscopic reflectometry. Based on previously published mathematical modelling, the oxygen content in retinal vessels and total retinal oxygen extraction were calculated. RESULTS: Total retinal blood flow was higher in diabetic participants (46.4 ± 7.4 µl/min) than in healthy volunteers (40.4 ± 5.3 µl/min, p = 0.002 between groups). Oxygen content in retinal arteries was comparable between the two groups, but oxygen content in retinal veins was higher in participants with diabetes (0.15 ± 0.02 ml O2/ml) compared with healthy control participants (0.13 ± 0.02 ml O2/ml, p < 0.001). As such, the arteriovenous oxygen difference and total retinal oxygen extraction were reduced in participants with diabetes compared with healthy volunteers (total retinal oxygen extraction 1.40 ± 0.44 vs 1.70 ± 0.47 µl O2/min, respectively, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our data indicate early retinal hypoxia in individuals with type 1 diabetes with no or mild diabetic retinopathy as compared with healthy control individuals. Further studies are required to fully understand the potential of the technique in risk stratification and treatment monitoring. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01843114.

[Diabetes education in adult diabetic patients]. / Diabetesschulung bei Erwachsenen mit Diabetes.

Diabetes education and self management has gained a critical role in diabetes care. Patient empowerment aims to actively influence the course of the disease by self-monitoring and treatment modification, as well as integration of diabetes in patients' daily life to achieve changes in lifestyle accordingly.Diabetes education has to be made accessible for all patients with the disease. To be able to provide a structured and validated education program adequate personal as well as space, organizational and financial background are required. Besides an increase in knowledge about the disease it has been shown that structured diabetes education is able to improve diabetes outcome measured by parameters like blood glucose, HbA1c, blood pressure and body weight in follow-up evaluations. Modern education programs emphasize the ability of patients to integrate diabetes in everyday life and stress physical activity besides healthy eating as a main component of lifestyle therapy and use interactive methods in order to increase the acceptance of personal responsibility.