Retina has tiny blood vessels that are easy to damage. Having high blood glucose and high blood pressure for a long time can damage these tiny blood vessels.
Initially these tiny blood vessels swell and weaken. Some blood vessels then become clogged and do not let enough blood through. most patients do not experience any symptoms in this stage
One eye may be damaged more than the other, or both eyes may have the same amount of damage. As diabetic retinopathy becomes worse, new blood vessels grow. These new blood vessels are weak. They break easily and leak blood into the vitreous of eye. The leaking blood keeps light from reaching the retina.
In this stage patients may experience floating spots or almost total darkness. Sometimes, the blood will clear out by itself, in other cases surgery is required to remove it.
Over the years, the swollen and weak blood vessels can form scar tissue and pull the retina away from the back of the eye. If the retina becomes detached, you may see floating spots or flashing lights. You may feel as if a curtain has been pulled over part of what you are looking at. This condition can cause loss of sight or blindness if you don't take care of it right away.
Symptoms
Often, there are no symptoms in the early stages of this diabetic eye disease. Vision may not change until the disease becomes severe, nor is there any pain. Blurred vision may occur when the macula -- the part of the retina that provides sharp, central vision -- swells from the leaking fluid. This condition is called macular edema.
If new blood vessels have grown on the surface of the retina, they can bleed into the eye, blocking vision. Even in more advanced cases, the disease may progress a long way without any noticeable symptoms, so regular eye examinations for people with diabetes are important.
Treatment
There are a number of treatment options for diabetic retinopathy. Your eye doctor may suggest laser treatment, which involves a light beam aimed into the retina of the damaged eye. The beam closes off leaking blood vessels, which may stop blood and fluid from leaking into the vitreous and slow down the loss of sight.
If a lot of blood has leaked into your vitreous and your sight is poor, your eye doctor might suggest you have surgery called a vitrectomy. This procedure removes blood and fluids from the vitreous of your eye. Then, clean fluid is put back into the eye. The surgery often makes your eyesight better.
One common doubt is that whether to avoid aspirin when there is a leakage.But there is no need of stopping it. Only in advanced Diabetic diseases such as a vitreous hmg or detachment it must be stopped.
ReplyDelete