What is diabetic retinopathy

The diabetic retinopathy is a serious complication of diabetes that affects the blood vessels that supply the retina and is causing serious harm to the accompanying loss of vision, to the extent that this disease is a major cause of blindness in developed countries.

Although diabetes is the origin of this eye condition, diabetic retinopathy can be aggravated or have a faster evolution to the influence of other factors:

  

• Poorly controlled hypertension, since it affects bloodflow.
• Hypercholesterolemia: facilitates the formation of exudates and protein deposits that leak into the retina.
• Ethnicity: African Americans, Latinos and Americans have a higher propensity to develop this disease.
    

With regard to diabetes, the two factors that influence decisively the appearance and development of the disease is the one hand, which is not adequately controlled and, secondly, that takes many years suffering from diabetes, although is controlled. In fact, 80% of patients with type 1 diabetes and 84% of those with type 2 diabetes will developdiabetic retinopathy of varying severity.

Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy

is common for diabetic retinopathy has no symptoms in its early stages, so it is very important that diabetics undergo a routine examination periodically. When they appear, symptoms may include the following:

  

• Blurred vision and gradual loss of vision.
• Shadows vision or loss of vision zones.
• Floaters.
• Difficulty seeing at night or in poorly lit places.

Nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy

is the name given to the initial stage of this eye disease and during different alterations different eye disorders may occur in the eye:

  

• Microaneurysms: small bumps are the vessels that carry blood to the retina and may cause some leakage of fluid form.
• Bleeding retinal.
• Swelling of the macula: macular edema is the most common cause of vision loss in people with diabetes.
• Macular ischemia: the macula does not receive enough blood because they are closed or clogged blood vessels that irrigate, which makes the vision becomes blurred.
    

However, at this stage of diabetic retinopathy it is not often that vision disturbances occur, except in cases where a macular edema or ischemia occurs. Sometimes it is not necessary to begin treatment, but continuous monitoring of the patient to act when necessary.

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy

is when it comes to diabetic retinopathy nonproliferative evolves and affects numerous blood vessels, which become clogged and significantly reduce the blood supply of the retina, so that it reacts to form new blood vessels (neovascularization) that does not solve anything, as they are also affected by the disease, and sometimes produce scarring that may eventually cause a retinal detachment.

In this case, it can cause a significant loss of central and peripheral vision, for various reasons, among which must be mentioned in the vitreous hemorrhage, traction retinal detachment or glaucoma caused by neovascularization. The moment when the first symptoms of visual impairment occurs is necessary to start the treatment, surgery is usually, but can also be drug.