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Message From The Study Chair

Welcome to the official website of DIRECT (DIabetic REtinopathy Candesartan Trials), an investigator-initiated clinical trial series investigating the effect of candesartan cilexetil on the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy is a common and feared complication of diabetes and will affect nearly all people with Type 1 diabetes and approximately two-thirds of people with Type 2 diabetes within 20 years of diagnosis. If untreated, it may lead to blindness. If diagnosed and treated promptly, blindness is usually preventable.

DIRECT consists of three randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicentre studies that have been designed to investigate further the important outcome from the EUCLID study and to tell us more specifically about the potential for candesartan cilexetil to halt the progression of, and possibly prevent, diabetic retinopathy. Our aim is to bring hope to the large and increasing number of patients with diabetes, by helping to limit retinal damage, and, in some patients, to preserve vision.

We look forward to our first presentation of the main DIRECT results at the EASD 2008, 9-10 am, Thursday 11 September 2008 in the da Vinci Hall, Nuova Fiera di Roma conference and exhibition centre, Rome. In the meantime, we will continually update the information available on this website, beginning with an overview of the study rationale, design and baseline characteristics. My colleagues and I hope that you will find this resource useful for your work and studies.