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I have been looking into diabetes of late as a close family member has been displaying signs of type 2 diabetes and was surprised to see that it can cause diabetic retinopathy.
Retinopathy is a disease of the retina, the nerve layer that lines the back of our eyes. It takes the pictures and sends the image to our brain. Its reported that many diabetics will get retinopathy.
The direct effects are poor vision and in severe cases even blindness. It is more prominent that vision will fail over a long course of time. In the first instance, the eyes blood vessels get weaker. This can lead to aqueous liquid and blood leaking from the blood vessels into the (non-proliferative retinopathy). Vision will be blurred if the fluid leaks into the centre of the eye. Most people with non-proliferative retinopathy will have no symptoms.
Diabetic retinopathy will be progressive if the patients' blood sugar levels remain high. Although new blood vessels will grow on the retina of the eye they will be weak and are at danger of breaking open easily. If they break, blood can leak in front of the retina and change your vision. The bleeding can also create scar tissue which can pull on the retina causing it to move away from the wall of the eye (retinal detachment). This is proliferative retinopathy. It is imperative that patients have regular eye exams as symptoms are not always easy to recognise and in some cases don't display them until its too late for treatment.
Macula edema is also a risk for diabetics. The retinopathy can cause the macula of the eye to swell which can result in legal blindness.
Diabetic retinopathy occurs when high blood sugar damages the tiny blood vessels of the retina.
When you have diabetic retinopathy, high blood pressure can aggravate it. The High blood pressure can cloud more of your vision as it damages the already weakened vessels in the eye.
As already mentioned, there are no symptoms of diabetic retinopathy until it starts to affect your vision. At the point symptoms are noticeable severe damage has already been caused. Regular eye checks will detect diabetic retinopathy early enough to treat it and assist in the prevention of vision loss.
Can diabetic retinopathy be prevented?
By keeping your blood sugar levels and blood pressure levels within a target range you can decrease the chance of damage to the small blood vessels in the eye.
By attending a dilated eye exam regularly with your optician there is a chance you and your doctor can find diabetic retinopathy before it has the chance to get worse. This would normally mean an exam once a year. Finding retinopathy early gives you an improved chance of avoiding vision loss and even blindness.
Medicine, laser treatment or surgery may help slow the vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy. Treatment may need repeating as the disease gets more aggressive.