“Diabetic retinopathy” is one of the serious complications of diabetes. It will not only cause symptoms such as flashing vision, visual field defect, and vision loss in patients, which will affect the patient’s life and work, but also cause irreversible blindness, which will seriously affect the patient’s quality of life.
The question I hear most about it clinically is: what is its cause? How to detect diabetic retinopathy early? What should I do if I am diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy? Today I will take you to find out.
Causes of Diabetic Retinopathy
diabetes Retinopathy is one of diabetic microangiopathy, and its occurrence is mainly related to poor blood sugar control in patients. In addition, it may also be closely related to patients’ hypertension, hyperlipidemia, proteinuria and smoking.
First, poor blood sugar control.
Due to long-term hyperglycemia, microvessels will be damaged, resulting in vascular occlusion, tissue hypoxia, and neovascularization leading to diabetic retinopathy.
Second, high blood pressure.
The epidemiological study of diabetes found that young diabetics with a history of hypertension and poor blood pressure control were at high risk of developing diabetic retinopathy.
Third, hyperlipidemia.
High blood lipids will aggravate atherosclerosis in the fundus blood vessels, and epidemiological studies of diabetes also believe that high blood lipids can cause retinal hard exudation deposition in diabetic patients. an independent increased risk factor for visual impairment.
Fourth, proteinuria.
According to many data, there is a strong correlation between the prevalence of proteinuria and retinopathy in diabetic patients.
Fifth, smoking.
Although smoking is not an independent risk factor for diabetic retinopathy, smoking can aggravate the development of atherosclerosis and significantly increase the risk of diabetic retinopathy.
How to spot diabetic retinopathy early
As an ophthalmologist, we need to remind everyone that in order to detect diabetic retinopathy early, patients usually need regular fundus examinations.
Because in the early stage of diabetic retinopathy, patients may have no special symptoms. If no eye examination is performed at this time, the condition may be delayed. When a patient goes to the ophthalmologist for an examination, the ophthalmologist will make a judgment based on the patient’s eye condition. Because there are two symptoms in the early stage of diabetic retinopathy, the first is decreased vision, and the second is the movement of the shadow in front of the eyes. As the disease progresses, vision loss may become more pronounced. Then, according to the symptoms, fundus dilation examination and fluorescein fundus angiography can be performed as prescribed by the doctor to confirm the diagnosis.
What to do if you are diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy
There are many clinical treatments for diabetic retinopathy, such as drug therapy, laser therapy and surgery.
First, drug treatment:
Patients can control blood sugar levels with drugs to delay the development of diabetic retinopathy . In addition, for those with high blood pressure and high blood lipids, you can use drugs to control blood pressure and blood lipids as prescribed by your doctor. Elevated blood pressure and elevated blood lipids are also the main factors leading to retinopathy.
Second, laser therapy:
Laser therapy is currently one of the most effective treatments for diabetic retinopathy. There are many methods for laser treatment of diabetes, and patients need to choose the appropriate laser treatment method according to the symptoms of the doctor.
Third, vitrectomy:
Vitrectomy is the best way to treat vitreous hemorrhage and severe proliferative lesions, especially for severe vitreous hemorrhage , can achieve the purpose of radical cure.
[References]
[1] Liu Jiaqi, Li Fengming, Wu Jingan, et al. Practical Ophthalmology [J]. People’s Health Publishing House, 2010.
[2] Jiang Xu. Prevalence and related factors of retinopathy in 3404 patients with type 2 diabetes [D]. Anhui Medical University,
2020.DOI:10.26921/d.cnki.ganyu.2020.000952.< /p>