Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the eyes. It is caused by the deterioration of the blood vessels nourishing the retina at the back of the eye. The weakened blood vessels may leak fluid or blood, develop fragile brush-like branches and become enlarged in certain places.

The retina is the part of the eye where light filtering through the lens is focused. The focused light or images are then carried to the brain by the optic nerve. When leaking blood or fluid damages or scars the retina, the images sent to the brain become blurred.

The risk of developing diabetic retinopathy for patients who have had irregular control of diabetes for long time is high. About 60 per cent of the people who have had diabetes for fifteen years or more have some blood vessels damaged in their eyes.

When diabetes develops at an early age, in childhood or teenage years, it is known as juvenile diabetes. Juvenile. Diabetics are particularly likely to develop diabetic retinopathy at an early age. Only a small percentage of those who develop retinopathy, however, have serious problems with their vision, and even smaller percentage become blind. In spite of this, diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness in adults.

There are two forms of diabetic retinopathy. In one form, background retinopathy, blood vessels within the retina change. Some vessels decrease in size and others enlarge and form balloon-like sacs which obstruct the flow of blood through vessels. These vessels leak and hemorrhage, forming deposits called exudates and causing the retina to swell.

Background retinopathy is considered at an early stage of diabetic retinopathy. Fortunately, sight is usually not seriously affected and the condition does not progress in about 80 per cent of diabetic patients. In some cases, however, the leaking fluid collects in the macula, the central portion of the retina which is responsible for central vision.

Straight-ahead images, reading and close work May then become blurred, and loss of central vision can result in legal blindness (i.e. blindness’” where you cannot perform any-useful work for a livelihood). Background retinopathy is a warning sign and can progress to more serious, sight-endangering stages.

The second form is proliferate retinopathy. This begins in the same manner as background retinopathy with the addition of new blood vessel growth on the surface of the retina or the optic nerve. These fragile new blood vessels may rupture and bleed into the vitreous, the clear gel-like substance that fills the centre of the eye. If the leaking blood clouds the normally clear

Vitreous, light passing from the lens through the vitreous to the retina is blocked and images are distorted. Additionally, scar tissue forming from the mass of the ruptured blood vessels in the vitreous may tighten and pull on the retina, tugging it away and detaching it from the back of the eye. Blood vessels may even grow on the iris and cause a form of glaucoma. Severe loss of sight and even blindness may result from these conditions.