Diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic retinopathy is the medical condition  which involves the progressive damage of the retina and it is the most common
sight complication due to diabetes.
Retina is a seven-layered lining at the back of the eye and its role is to sense light
coming through the pupil, focused and inverted by the lens and cornea respectively.
Diabetic retinopathy may start within twenty years after the onset of diabetes symptoms or the diagnosis of the disease. The
complication accompanies both type 1 and type 2 diabetes
in nearly 20% of clinical cases.
The establishment of diabetic retinopathy increases the likelihood of blindness to occur,
up to twenty five times.
The very early stage of retina damage is described as background retinopathy and precedes
the main state of the condition in 80% of the diabetes cases.
Pathology of diabetic retinopathy.
Retina caries little blood vessels. The latest are delicate and can be damaged quite
easily. As it has mentioned already, this damage occurs slowly. Increased blood glucose level and high blood pressure are
the main causes for the disease, in a long term.
At the first stages of diabetic retinopathy the tiny blood vessels start to leak fluid
into the retina, resulting in blurred vision. Non-proliferate retinopathy is common. This
is a mild form of the condition and hardly affects the sight, since retinal damage is
limited. Proliferative retinopathy is a more advanced type of the disease. In such cases,
new blood vessels develop in the eye. These new vessels are susceptible to bleeding into
the vitreous of the eye and may lead to impairment or complete loss of sight and scarred
retina. Occasionally, the blood vessels may get clogged and semi-obstructed, not letting
adequate amount of blood to come through. Apparently, this causes additional damage.
Overtime, retina may get detached from the back side of the eye, causing floating spots
or flashing lights.
Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy.
The very early symptom of diabetic retinopathy is poor night vision followed, at a
later stage, by blurry or double vision, floating or flushing spots, pain or pressure in
one or both eyes and if untreated, by blindness. Whenever a vessel leakage or clotted
blood prevents the light to reach the retina, there is a sensation of a curtain been
partly pulled in front of the eye.
In many cases of diabetic retinopathy, the eyes are not affected equally. In fact, at
early stages impaired sight may not occur and retinopathy can remain unnoticed until
severe symptoms appear. Thus, it is strongly recommended for diabetics to have a yearly
dilated eye exam, even if the slightest vision problem has not appeared or been
identified yet.
Treatment of diabetic retinopathy.
Retinopathy occurs in nearly 90% of diabetes cases on a long term basis. If the
condition remains untreated, it can lead to glaucoma or blindness. In fact, the disease is the
main cause of lost vision in the USA. Considering the damage in retina is hardly
reversible, treatment aims to delay the pathological progress, to control the
consequences and minimize the symptoms, if possible.
Efficient management of blood glucose level, blood pressure and cholesterol is essential. Apart from that, laser
surgery is the most prominent option. The laser beam can repair leaking blood vessels. A
surgical operation called vitrectomy is used, if blood is spread into the vitreous of the
eye. Blood is removed and eye fluids are replaced with new ones. Retinal detachment
repair may be achieved. In general, post-operative results are very satisfactory.
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