Diabetic Retinopathy - Keep an Eye on your sight

What is Retina? 

Retina is like a film within a camera. Visual impulses are received by specialised cells in the retina and transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve.

What is Diabetic Retinopathy?

Specific changes in the retina that can occur in people with diabetes mellitus are termed diabetic retinopathy.

Who is most likely to get Diabetic Retinopathy?

Any one with diabetes. The longer someone has diabetes, the more likely he or she will get diabetic retinopathy. Nearly half of all people with diabetes will develop some degree of diabetes retinopathy during their life time.

What happens to the Retina in Diabetic Retinopathy?

The changes involve the small blood vessels of the retina (termed microangiopathy). The inner lining of these blood-vessels are weakened and small outpouchings occur. These are called microaneurysms.  

The blood vessels also become abnormally permeable and allow substances to leak freely into spaces where they should not normally enter. This leakage produces retinal oedema and deposition of lipoprotein material called hard exudates.

Are there any more changes in Diabetic Retinopathy?

The more serious changes in diabetic retinopathy are the closure of the retinal capillaries. Lack of blood supply to the retina from capillary closure may be more difficult to detect and may be apparent only with the use of fluorescein angiogram. The retina being starved of oxygen, stimulates the growth of abnormal blood vessels on the retina. The process is termed retinal neovascularisation.

Why “bleeding inside the eye” occurs?

The abnormal blood vessels are brittle and have a tendency to bleed easily. Such bleeding occurs either between the vitreous (Jelly) and the retina or into the vitreous itself, when it is termed as ‘vitreous haemorrhage’. Such bleeds may clear spontaneously or may remain as such. Sometimes repeated bleeds occur. Abnormal growth of scar tissue (fibro vascular proliferation) is also a complication of diabetic retinopathy and this can contract and pull on the retina causing it to detach. This is called a “traction retinal detachment” (TRD).

How does vision get affected in Diabetic Retinopathy?

A reduction in vision occurs if retinal oedema occurs at the center; if traction retinal detachment involves the macula; or if a vitreous haemorrhage locates itself in front of the macula.

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