Currently, according to studies conducted by the World Health Organization, there are 400 million diabetic people in the world. However, it is estimated that by the year 2040 the figure will exceed 600 million.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that can affect the ocular organs, among others. A diabetic is 25% more likely to suffer eye disorders than a non-diabetic person.
In this sense, diabetes can lead to diabetic retinopathy. This is an eye condition that is the leading cause of blindness worldwide among people between the ages of 20 and 64.
What is diabetic retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is one of the possible consequences that can affect diabetics. It does not affect all patients with diabetes, but it is a complication that only some of them suffer in a totally random way.
This condition affects the retina, the structure of the eye that most affects vision, causing a deterioration in the patient’s eyesight, which can become total and chronic. This occurs by maintaining high blood glucose levels for a prolonged period of time.
What symptoms can it present?
In its early stages, diabetic retinopathy may go unnoticed as it does not show any symptoms. Symptoms usually appear in advanced stages of the disease. The most frequent symptoms are:
- Alteration of vision.
- Double vision.
- Worse vision at night.
- Deformation of vision.
- Difficulty to see after seeing a light.
- Floating and moving spots.
- Loss of vision.
How can it be diagnosed?
First of all, it is vitally important that every person who has been diagnosed with diabetes has at least an annual ophthalmologic examination. This examination should include:
- Complete eye examination by measuring visual acuity, eye strain, etc.
- Fundus examination using direct or indirect ophthalmoscopy procedures, etc.
- Fluorescein angiography, a test performed to detect whether abnormal blood vessels are present. This step is used only in cases where the patient has lesions in the back of the eye.
- Optical coherence tomography, a technique that allows very accurate imaging of the different layers of the retina.
How can it be treated?
Depending on the stage of the disease, there are different treatments. The earlier the diagnosis, the better the prognosis for controlling diabetic retinopathy.
In more advanced stages when important vascular alterations have already been detected, the current treatment consists in the use of laser photocoagulation, which helps, in the best of cases, to stabilize the disease in the retina, but does not cure it; the aim of this treatment is to reduce the abnormal and fragile blood vessels, thus avoiding new hemorrhages.
In cases of swelling in the center of the retina, known as macular edema, which cannot be treated with laser, a very specific medication (antiangiogenics or dexamethasone) is administered inside the eye by injection.
On occasions when there is already very advanced diabetic retinopathy that has caused an alteration in the gelatinous content of the eye (vitreous humor), either by repeated hemorrhages or by the formation of flanges that can pull on the retina, the treatment is surgical and the technique is called vitrectomy. It consists of removing the vitreous humor opacified by blood and replacing it with a saline solution.
Prevention is the best treatment
Despite the many advances in the diagnostic and therapeutic means available today for diabetes, the incidence of this disease is increasing, among other causes due to the increase in life expectancy of the population, which is causing a greater number of diabetic patients with long-term complications, among which diabetic retinopathy is one of the most frequent.
It is important to convey that early detection and timely treatment can prevent vision loss. A well-controlled diabetic can live his entire life without significant ocular complications and for this, in addition to regular check-ups, it is necessary that he learns to live with his disease. The three basic pillars of treatment to achieve optimal metabolic control are medication, a healthy diet and adequate physical activity, which requires active participation on the part of the patient.
At the Granada Ophthalmological Institute, our mission as ophthalmologists is not only to treat established lesions, but also to prevent them.
For this reason we want to help raise awareness about the importance of having at least an annual eye exam, regardless of whether or not you are diagnosed with diabetes, because prevention is the best way to take care of our eye health.