What is Diabetic Retinopathy? Can Diabetes affect my eyes?
Diabetic Retinopathy is the condition in which diabetes mellitus or sugar starts affecting the Retina. Yes, diabetes can affect your eyes and this can lead to permanent blindness. Diabetic retinopathy is a very common disease treated by us in Mumbai. India being the top 5 countries with diabetes has lot of patient affected by diabetic Retinopathy.
How does diabetes affect my eyes ?
Diabetes can cause bleeding or swelling in the retina. Bleeding can happen in the gel known as vitreous haemorrhage or can lead to swelling of the macula known as macular edema. This can lead to floaters or decreased vision. Sometimes patients also complain of inability to see small letters, seeing wavy lines and distorted images.
How can I prevent Diabetic Retinopathy from affecting my eyes ?
Diabetes Retinopathy can be prevented. First of all early diagnosis and proper control of diabetes is important to prevent damage to the eyes. Not just good control you need to have regular dilated retina check up.
How often do I need to check my eyes to prevent diabetic retinopathy? What check ups are needed to diagnose Retinoapthy or macular edema ?
At least once a year or annual retina check up is needed for prevention of diabetic retinopathy. You need to have a dilated retina check up by a trained retina specialist. Just checking your glass number or undiluted check up is of no use. If your Retina Specialist finds any suspicious area he may order Fundus Photo, OCT or even fundus Fluorescein angiography.
Do I need to check my eyes even if I don’t have any symptoms ? I have recently checked my eyes at an optician do I need to check for diabetic retinopathy ?
Diabetic retinopathy in the initial stages is asymtomatic. It means you may not know that your eyes are affected by diabetes but changes would have already started I. Your eyes. Since diabetic retinopathy is a silent disease regular eye check up irrespective of any complaints is a must. Also checking number does not rule out diabetic retinopathy. Always insist on Dilated retina check up whenever you check your number or glasses. We at Soni eye Care Mulund check all are patients after dilating.
Can Diabetic Retinopathy be treated ?
Diabetic retinopathy can be treated with intravitreal injections, laser or Vitrectomy surgery. Early stages of diabetic retinopathy may not need any treatment. Your Retina Specialist may call you for frequent check ups to monitor progression. Advanced stages of diabetic retinopathy may need retinal surgery.
Can drops or medicines treat my diabetes ?
Unfortunately there are no drops to treat diabetic retinopathy. Medicines will help control sugar but they cannot treat diabetes
What are the risk factors for diabetic retinopathy ?
Sugar levels, duration of disease, blood pressure, high cholesterol, anaemia, renal or kidney failure, heart disease all contribute to development of diabetic retinopathy.
Where can I get treatment for Diabetic retinopathy in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai (India) ?
Diabetic retinopathy treatment is done at Soni Eye Care Center & Super Speciality Retina clinic, Mulund West. We are equipped with all the treatment and investigation machines like Lasers, Oct, Fundus camera. If its not possible to visit us you can get in touch with us and we will guide you. If you stay far off, take treatment from your nearest Retina specialist
It’s awesome that this article talked about avoiding eye damage from diabetes, early detection, and effective management are crucial. This will be helpful for my aunt who has diabetes and low eye vision at the same time. To help her with early prevention for any complications, I’ll make sure to advise her to consult diabetic eye care.