Diabetes is a threat to vision Stand by with guidance to fight it

What is Diabetic retinopathy?

Diabetic retinopathy is a kind of eye disease where the retina is affected by the poor-controlled diabetic mellitus. Person with high blood glucose level can be the victim of this disease. It develops little by little, but can result to ultimate blindness if neglected.

What causes diabetic retinopathy?

As the name suggests itself, diabetes is the sole cause for this disease. Excessive percentage of blood sugar affects the capillaries of the retina causing obstructions in blood flow.

Types and symptoms:

The progress of diabetic retinopathy is very slow. It is difficult to ascertain at an early stages as it does not show any symptoms. If you have witnessed any of the following symptoms and you are suffering from high diabetes, you should see for the best eye hospital for diabetic retinopathy without wasting any time;

1. Hazy vision
2. Difficulty in reading
3. Colour blindness
4. Sometimes minute eye pain
5. Myopia(at advance stage)

Typically there are two types of diabetic retinopathy:

1. Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy(NPDR): If diabetic retinopathy is detected at the first stage then it will come under NPDR. In this type of DR no remarkable symptoms can be seen as it is the early stage. The retina becomes frail here and no proliferation of blood vessel can be seen. It can cause bulging and swelling of the macula.
2. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR): This is the severe type of diabetic retinopathy. When it reaches to the advance stage, it can be dangerous as it can destroy the optic nerve resulting permanent blindness. Proliferation of new and frail capillaries (microangiopathy) can cause a lack of blood and fluid (aqueous humor) flow into the retina that can lead to the retinal detachment.

Other disorders like diabetic macular edema, glaucoma, cataract etc can occur as a result of this disease.

Prevention

The one and only prevention of Diabetic retinopathy is maintaining a balanced blood glucose level. If you are a diabetic patient, you also have to take a yearly thorough eye checkup to stay away from any casualties. Other factors like a healthy diet, little exercise, proper medication for other heath issues etc can be benefitted to prevent diabetic retinopathy.

Treatment

Treatments of diabetic retinopathy can defer from situation to situation depending upon the patients’ condition.

• Optical coherence tomography(OCT):It is a revolutionary process for detecting different types of retinal conditions. It basically assists to check different things like macular distortion, vitreo retinal diseases, and diabetic edema by capturing cross-dimensional images with the help of low-consistence light.
• Fundus flourescein angiography(FFA): An unbeatable screening technique to detect diabetic retinopathy at the beginning stages for better vision.
• Intravitreal Injection: It is used to decrease water accumulation within retina.
• Vitreoretinal Surgery: It is used to clear bleeding within vitreous cavity.
• Laser therapy (photocoagulation): Photocoagulation can be used to heal the microangiopathic condition of retina. This surgery can be done on an outpatient basis. It mainly breaks or destroys the unwanted clotting and flow of blood into the retina.
• Medication: The retina specialists can also take the strategy of using medicines and injections to recover the issue. There is always a chance to recover from diabetic retinopathy by medications if detected at the early stages.