Treating your Diabetes? Do Not Ignore your Eyes: Diabetic Retinopathy

 


Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the blood vessels in the tissue at the back of the eye (retina) and poorly controlled blood sugar is a risk factor.

Diabetic retinopathy affects up to half of the Indian population and is one of the leading causes of irreversible vision.

What are the early signs?

Early symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy include floaters, blurriness, dark areas of vision, and difficulty perceiving colors and blindness can occur.

What are the types of Diabetic Retinopathy?

There are two types of diabetic retinopathy:

Early diabetic retinopathy. In this more common form — called non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) — new blood vessels aren’t growing (proliferating).

When you have NPDR, the walls of the blood vessels in your retina weaken. Tiny bulges protrude from the walls of the smaller vessels, sometimes leaking fluid and blood into the retina. Larger retinal vessels can begin to dilate and become irregular in diameter as well. NPDR can progress from mild to severe as more blood vessels become blocked.

Sometimes retinal blood vessel damage leads to a buildup of fluid (edema) in the retina’s center portion (macula). If macular edema decreases vision, treatment is required to prevent permanent vision loss.

Advanced diabetic retinopathy- Diabetic retinopathy can progress to this more severe type, known as proliferative diabetic retinopathy. In this type, damaged blood vessels close off, causing the growth of new, abnormal blood vessels in the retina. These new blood vessels are fragile and can leak into the clear, jellylike substance that fills the center of your eye (vitreous).

What are the causes of Diabetic Retinopathy?

Diabetic retinopathy is caused by high blood sugar due to diabetes. Over time, having too much sugar in your blood can damage your retina — the part of your eye that detects light and sends signals to your brain through a nerve in the back of your eye (optic nerve). Diabetes damages blood vessels all over the body.

What is the general line of treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy?

For diabetic retinopathy that is threatening or affecting your sight, the main treatments are laser treatment – to treat the growth of new blood vessels at the back of the eye (retina) in cases of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and to stabilize some cases of maculopathy.

Eye injections – to treat severe maculopathy that’s threatening your sight.

Eye surgery – to remove blood or scar tissue from the eye if laser treatment is not possible because retinopathy is too advanced.

Laser treatment in case of Diabetic Retinopathy

Involves shining a laser into your eyes – you’ll be given local anesthetic drops to numb your eyes; eye drops are used to widen your pupils and special contact lenses are used to hold your eyelids open and focus the laser onto your retina. Normally takes around 20 to 40 minutes. It is usually carried out on an outpatient basis, which means you will not need to stay in the hospital overnight, and is painless.


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