Diabetic retinopathy: Get treatment quickly to reduce the risk of blindness.

Browse By

Diabetes is a disease that can be called one of the most serious and will be the source of other diseases to follow, such as high blood pressure, high blood fat, etc. People who have diabetes must have their symptoms monitored and treated continuously and consistently. If diabetic patients cannot control their blood sugar levels, it will spread to the eyes and that is the origin of  “diabetic retinopathy” .

Diabetic retinopathy (DRT) is a complication of diabetes that can eventually lead to vision loss or blindness. It is caused by prolonged high blood sugar levels that damage the blood vessels in the retina.

Long-term high blood sugar levels can damage areas with small blood vessels. The eyes are one of the organs with many capillaries. High blood sugar levels damage the blood vessel walls in the retina, causing bulging, blockage, leakage of fluid and blood cells, retinal edema, retinal ischemia, ยูฟ่าเบท and the formation of new blood vessels. These newly formed blood vessels are brittle and easily broken, causing bleeding into the vitreous humor, leading to blurred vision and blindness, or the formation of fibrosis that pulls on the retina, leading to blindness.

In the early stages, there may not be any abnormalities, but if left untreated, it may become more severe. Symptoms include:

  • The eyes see dots or lines like spider webs. The vision is blurry.
  • It is more difficult to distinguish colors, and some areas of the image are dark.
  • Vision loss, loss of vision

    Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes. Therefore, if you have diabetes, you are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. Treatment of diabetic retinopathy depends on the stage. If it is in the early stages, it can be treat to prevent the symptoms from becoming severe. Treatment includes:

    • Blood sugar control. which is a treatment that focuses on the root cause, and if there are other diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, these comorbidities must also be controll and treat.
    • Lifestyle changes such as diet control and avoiding smoking because smoking can further damage blood vessels.
    • Laser treatment if the bleeding in the eye becomes more severe. The doctor will use a laser on the outer part of the retina to reduce oxygen to the eye tissue that stimulates inflammation and reduce the release of abnormal blood vessel-building substances from diabetic retinopathy.
    • Injection of drugs into the vitreous humor to reduce retinal swelling in patients with concomitant macular edema.
    • Surgery, which is a treatment for severe cases, such as those. With scar tissue, retinal detachment, or excessive bleeding in the vitreous humor.
    • Treatment with multiple methods in combination In severe cases, treatment with only one method may not be enough. Treatment with multiple methods in combination is necessary. The doctor will consider the appropriate treatment for each patient.

    In patients whose diabetic retinopathy has remitted, it is necessary to have regular monitoring and maintain continuous blood sugar control.