Your retina is an essential part of your vision as it’s responsible for turning light rays into images through signals to the brain. When there’s a problem with your retina due to eye disease, ocular trauma or other conditions, you run the risk of causing long-term damage to your eyesight.
People with diabetes can have an eye disease called diabetic retinopathy. This is when high blood sugar levels cause damage to blood vessels in the retina. These blood vessels can swell and leak. Or they can close, stopping blood from passing through. Sometimes abnormal new blood vessels grow on the retina. All of these changes can steal your vision.
Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a common vascular retina disease affecting about 40% of type 1 diabetics & 20% of type 2 diabetics.
Anyone who has diabetes can develop diabetic retinopathy. Risk of developing the eye condition can increase as a result of :
You can have diabetic retinopathy and not know it. This is because it often has no symptoms in its early stages. As diabetic retinopathy gets worse, you will notice symptoms such as
Diabetic retinopathy occurs when diabetes damages the retinal blood vessels.
It is classified into:
Causes microaneurysms, exudates, retinal hemorrhages, and retinal swelling. This is the early phase of diabetic retinopathy.
Causes the growth of new, abnormal blood vessels that can cause large vitreous hemorrhages and vision loss. This is an advanced phase of diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic retinopathy is treated with laser, eye injections, and surgery. Surgery can prevent further vascular alterations and retain vision.
Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) often occurs in people aged over 50 and causes blurred or loss of central vision.
The retina has two parts: The peripheral retina and central part called macula. The macula is the only part of the retina capable of producing a sharp and crisp image, which enables us to read, write, watch television and drive.
Normal Vision : objects are unobstructed and clear
Macular vision : objects are obstructed and unclear
It is classified into:
This is caused by the aging and thinning of macular tissues. It causes yellowish spots in and around the macula, deteriorating macular tissues.
This causes the growth of new blood vessels under the retina, causing blood and fluid leakage and permanent damage to the retina if untreated.
ARMD can be treated with laser and eye injections.
Straight line get distorted in ARMD
When a vein in the retina becomes blocked, it’s called retinal vein occlusion. This can give rise to blurry vision or even sudden permanent blindness in that eye. It’s similar to retinal artery occlusion, which is sometimes called an eye stroke.
The damage happens when a blocked vein keeps blood from draining from the retina. That raises pressure inside the eye, which can cause bleeding, swelling, and fluid leaks. Retinal vein occlusions can harm your eye in minutes.
Injections. A drug called anti-vascular endothelial growth factor targets substances that cause fluid buildup in the macula, which provides your central vision . This helps to ease swelling. It may be treated with steroid injections instead.
Focal laser therapy. A laser burns and seals off blood vessels near the macula. This keeps them from leaking.