What Is
It?
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When your blood sugar gets too high in
the blood, it can damage
the blood vessels in your eyes. This damage may lead to
diabetic retinopathy. |
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| Types
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There are basically three types of
Diabetic Retinopathy
that exists, namely:
- Background Retinopathy
is an early form of
diabetic retinopathy. At this stage, the blood vessels in
the retina had damaged
and can leak fluid or blood, causing retina to swell and
form deposits called exudates.
One might not noticed any change in vision when in this
stage but it could lead to more
serious form of retinopathy
- Proliferative Retinopathy is the stage where new, fragile
blood vessels grow on the
surface of the retina. These new blood vessels are called
neovascularization, and can
lead to serious vision problems, because the new vessels
can break and bleed into the
vitreous. When the vitreous becomes clouded with blood,
light is prevented from passing
through the eye to the retina. This can blur or distort
vision.
- Macular edema is the stage when fluid collects in the
macula (the part of the retina
that allows us to see fine details), reading and other
close work may become difficult.
- Retinal Detachment is the stage whereby the new blood
vessels can also cause scar
tissue to develop, which can pull the retina away from the
back of the eye. This can
lead to blindness if untreated. Abnormal blood vessels can
grow on iris, which can lead
to Glaucoma.
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| Diagnostics
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Diabetic retinopathies usually produce
no symptoms. However,
one might notice gradual blurring of the vision if
Proliferative and Background
retinopathy leads to macular edema. |
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| Treatment
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Treatment is not necessary in the case
of diabetic retinopathy
as vision loss can be prevented or improved. Good control
of blood sugar will delay
or even prevent the development and the progression of
diabetic retinopathy.
If the ophthalmologist finds that you have diabetic
retinopathy, you may need
to have special photos of your retina taken. This series of
photos is called
fluorescein angiography.
During fluorescein angiography, a yellow dye is injected
into your arm which
then passes through the blood vessels in your retina. This
makes it easier to see
the blood vessels in the photos. Your ophthalmologist can
then use the photos if
you need laser surgery for diabetic retinopathy.
Laser photocoagulation is one of the most common
treatments involved. The
laser beam spots can also be scattered through the sides of
the retina to reduce
abnormal blood vessel growth (neovascularization) and help
seal the retina to the
back of the eye. This can help prevent retinal detachment.
Little recuperation is needed.
If you have very advanced proliferate diabetic
retinopathy or retinal detachment,
your ophthalmologist may recommend vitrectomy. In
vitrectomy, the surgeon removes
the blood-filled vitreous and replaces it with a clear
solution. This allows light
to pass through the clear fluid to the retina, where the
images you see are conveyed
to the brain. |
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