The article quoted below specifically mentions that pine bark extract
seals leaky blood vessels in the eye.
The author of the article is one to read with caution (he's prone to
hyperbole at the very least) IMO.
http://www.naturalnews.com/027920_pycnogenol_diabetes.html
A total of 46 diabetic patients were involved in the randomized,
controlled study. Twenty-four of them were treated with pine bark
extract once a day for three months while the remaining 22 were given a
placebo. All the patients <http://www.naturalnews.com/patients.html> had
diabetes for at least four years and all were beginning to develop
retinopathy <http://www.naturalnews.com/retinopathy.html>. *Seventy-five
percent of patients in the pine bark group experienced improvement in
their vision* while none in the placebo
<http://www.naturalnews.com/placebo.html> group did.
Dr. Robert Steigerwalt, one of the lead researchers of the study,
confirmed that not only does pine bark extract halt the progression of
diabetic <http://www.naturalnews.com/diabetic.html> retinopathy, it can
cause it to regress by sealing the leaky blood vessels in the eye that
lead to the disease <http://www.naturalnews.com/disease.html>. Such
results were witnessed in as little as two months. He also noted that
diabetics <http://www.naturalnews.com/diabetics.html> in the early
stages of the disease can prevent such complications from ever occurring
by supplementing with pine bark extract.
Pycnogenol, the branded formula of the antioxidant
<http://www.naturalnews.com/antioxidant.html> plant extract derived from
the French maritime pine tree, has proven itself time and time again to
be a powerful protective nutrient, particularly for diabetics. When
administered during the early stages of diabetes
<http://www.naturalnews.com/diabetes.html>, many studies have shown that
pine bark is effective at preventing and treating the diabetic retinal
diseases.
