Retinopathy, a Diabetes Complication

What is Retinopathy
Who can develop retinopathy?
Retinopathy and blindness
Stages of retinopathy
Symptoms of proliferative retinopathy
Diagnosis Methods

Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the complications of diabetes. Patients of diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2 are most likely to develop this disease. Retinopathy is the prime cause that leads to blindness. Early diagnosis and treatment helps avoid blindness.

Who can develop Retinopathy?

All diabetes type 1 and 2 patients are at highest risk to develop retinopathy. More than 40% of total diabetes patients develop retinopathy in initial or later stage. All the diabetes patients should get eye check up done at least once a year.Retinopathy may make health condition complicated for pregnant women. Diabetic women are highly recommended to go for eye check up before pregnancy.

How Retinopathy Cause Blindness?

Damaged blood retina capillaries can result in blindness in two ways.

1. Because of high glucose level leakage of blood and other fluid starts from retina blood capillaries. This is called proliferative retinopathy. Blindness is inevitable in proliferative retinopathy as it is the last stage.
2. In an eye ball, the part that directly gets light rays on it is called Macula. Leaked fluid and blood, when flows through macula, cause macula inflamed. This is called Macula Edema. Macula edema can occur at any stage of retinopathy. Macula edema progresses as retinopathy grows. Half of the patients with proliferative retinopathy also suffer macula edema.

Stages of Retinopathy as per Severeness

There are three stages before retinopathy become proliferative retinopathy. They are as below.

1. Mild Nonproliferative Retinopathy,
2. Moderate Nonproliferative Retinopathy,
3. Severe Nonproliferative Retinopathy,
4. Proliferative Retinopathy

What are the symptoms of proliferative retinopathy?

Initial stages of retinopathy do not show any symptoms. However, last stage (proliferative retinopathy) does. Red or black spots, floating blood drops in vision are some of the common signs (see left side  image). Floating blood drop is an alarm sign to immediately consult physician. Hemorrhage may occur because of more severe leakage.Sometimes blood drops may disappear out of vision without any treatment and you may get healthy vision. But that’s not going to be alright forever. In fact, that’s the sign of loosing eye sight sooner. As time pass the vision get so blurred that at one point patient see complete black.

Diagnosis Method of Macular Edema and Retinopathy

Eye check up of diabetic patients is different from check up of normal people. Complete check up for retinopathy includes five methods.

Visual acuity test

It is a blurred vision test. This is the basic check up for all, diabetic as well as normal people. Patient is asked to observer a chart kept at different distance. The distance is noted down at which patient’s vision is best.

Dilated Eye Exam

This is known as indirect ophthalmoscopy in medical language. In this check up doctor throws bright light ray in each eye with the help of special device.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT)

This is like CT scan of retina. Thickness of the retina is figured out with the help of cross section image obtained by scan. This check up is decisive for macular edema and inflamed retina.

Digital Fundus Fluorescein angiography

Special dye is injected in hand. An image is captured when dye flows through capillaries of retina. This is very effective method to spot leakages.

Slit Lamp Biomicroscopy Retinal Screening Programs

This program is used for early diagnosis of retinopathy. This method is may accompanied with other above mentioned diagnosis method to detect retinal problem.The only rule for diabetes patients that help avoid blindness is ‘Yearly (or as suggested by doctors) eye check up.