What is diabetic retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is a disease of the retinal blood vessels caused by high blood sugar levels. The amount of damage sustained to the eye is related to how long the patient has had type 1 or type 2 diabetes and how high the sugar levels were during that time.
What can diabetic retinopathy do to the eye?
There are two main forms of damage to the retinal blood vessels: leakage or poor blood flow.
When the walls of the blood vessels are no longer as strong as they should be, fluid, blood, fat, and cholesterol deposits can leak from the bloodstream into the retina itself. In this situation, the retina can be thought of like a sponge that will soak up all of these deposits and become swollen. This retinal swelling is called diabetic macular edema, and it is a very common cause of vision loss in diabetics.
In other cases, the blood vessels become narrow and less effective at being able to deliver blood and oxygen to the retina. When this happens, the parts of the retina that are not getting good blood flow send a signal to the eye to create new retinal blood vessels. These new retinal blood vessels are abnormal and can cause significant bleeding and scarring. This is called proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and it can lead to devastating complications including bleeding in the eye, retinal detachment, and neovascular glaucoma.
How is diabetic retinopathy treated?
Dr. Chaith Indukuri at Retina Group of Texas is an expert in the management of diabetic retinopathy. In addition to consulting with a patient’s medical doctor about optimizing the management of diabetes and associated conditions like high blood pressure and cholesterol, he can also offer the latest treatments including retinal lasers, ocular injections, and, if needed, surgery. With prompt treatment, it is possible for patients to experience excellent visual outcomes.