Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is caused by diabetes and changes in the blood vessels of the retina. Some people experience swelling and leaking from the blood vessels in the retina, while others experience abnormal new blood vessels growing on the surface of the retina. These cause damage to the retina, affecting vision. However, changes in vision are subtle and barely noticeable. Over time, diabetic retinopathy gets worse and causes vision loss in both eyes.
There are four stages of diabetic retinopathy: mild nonproliferative retinopathy, moderate nonproliferative retinopathy, severe nonproliferative retinopathy, and proliferative retinopathy. Mild nonproliferative retinopathy is the earliest stage where microaneurysms occur, which are small areas of swelling in the retina's blood vessels. Moderate nonproliferative retinopathy is the point where some blood vessels are blocked, stopping some nourishment from getting to the retina. Sever nonproliferative retinopathy is the stage where more blood vessels are blocked, depriving several areas of the retina from blood supply and nourishment. Because of the lack of blood supply and nourishment, the retina sends messages to the body to grow new blood vessels. The proliferative retinopathy is the advanced stage where the growth of new abnormal and fragile blood vessels are grown. They grow along the retina and the surface of the gel that fills the inside of the eye. If they leak blood, then severe vision loss or even blindness can occur.
There are four stages of diabetic retinopathy: mild nonproliferative retinopathy, moderate nonproliferative retinopathy, severe nonproliferative retinopathy, and proliferative retinopathy. Mild nonproliferative retinopathy is the earliest stage where microaneurysms occur, which are small areas of swelling in the retina's blood vessels. Moderate nonproliferative retinopathy is the point where some blood vessels are blocked, stopping some nourishment from getting to the retina. Sever nonproliferative retinopathy is the stage where more blood vessels are blocked, depriving several areas of the retina from blood supply and nourishment. Because of the lack of blood supply and nourishment, the retina sends messages to the body to grow new blood vessels. The proliferative retinopathy is the advanced stage where the growth of new abnormal and fragile blood vessels are grown. They grow along the retina and the surface of the gel that fills the inside of the eye. If they leak blood, then severe vision loss or even blindness can occur.
There are two ways the new blood vessels can cause vision loss. Proliferative retinopathy is when the blood vessels leak blood into the center of the eye, blurring vision. However, macular edema is when the fluid leaks into the center of the macula, and can occur at any stage of diabetic retinopathy.
There are no symptoms or pain in the early stages of disease. However, sometimes there are spots of blood floating in your vision, which is caused from the leaking of the blood vessels. The only way to prevent progression of diabetic retinopathy is to control the levels of blood sugar, pressure, and cholesterol. However, proliferative retinopathy is treated with scatter laser surgery. The treatment shrinks the abnormal blood vessels by using laser burns. However, the treatment may cause loos of some side vision and slightly reduce color and night vision. Macular edema is treated with focal laser surgery, where several hundred small laser burns are placed in the areas of leakage. The burns slow the leakage of fluid and reduce the amount of fluid in the retina.
There are no symptoms or pain in the early stages of disease. However, sometimes there are spots of blood floating in your vision, which is caused from the leaking of the blood vessels. The only way to prevent progression of diabetic retinopathy is to control the levels of blood sugar, pressure, and cholesterol. However, proliferative retinopathy is treated with scatter laser surgery. The treatment shrinks the abnormal blood vessels by using laser burns. However, the treatment may cause loos of some side vision and slightly reduce color and night vision. Macular edema is treated with focal laser surgery, where several hundred small laser burns are placed in the areas of leakage. The burns slow the leakage of fluid and reduce the amount of fluid in the retina.