Diabetic Retinopathy

Definition:
Sometimes diabetes causes an alteration in the blood vessels of the eye, causing damage to the retina , known as diabetic retinopathy . This disease can lead to blindness if not detected in time, it is important that people with diabetes control their vision regularly.

Both diabetes type 1 and type 2 can cause damage to the small blood vessels that supply blood to the retina caused by high blood sugar and hypertension that often accompanies this metabolic disease . When blood vessels are injured , small blisters may form microaneurysms that often explode and shed blood or other fluids in the tissues , causing inflammation of the retina and the deposition of material transported by the blood. At this point , the retinopathy may go unnoticed for the diabetic and not cause any noticeable deterioration in his vision. This stage is called proliferative retinopathy .

In a more advanced stage of complication , called proliferative retinopathy , the retina tries to form new blood vessels to replace damaged ones in order to get oxygen and nutrition it needs to function properly . However, these new vessels are very weak and are even more likely to bleed or leak fluid . If bleeding is to a part of the eye called vitreous vision may deteriorate severely .

Causes
The main cause is inadequate control of blood glucose ( blood sugar) in diabetic individuals . However, other factors such as snuff , obesity or hypertension ( the same that cause diabetes ) also contribute to this disease appears .

Signs and symptoms
Often no symptoms during the early stages of diabetic retinopathy . However, sooner or later, the vision may become blurred or blocked completely. But even in the most advanced cases the disease may progress without warning signs for a long time , hence the importance of regular eye exams .

Treatment
Besides good glycemic control in diabetic patients, surgery can slow the degenerative effect of retinopathy . There are two types of surgery : Argon laser and vitrectomy ( a technique that replaces the vitreous humor of the eye)