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What Causes Retinopathy?
[Answer: Diabetes]
Have you noticed blurry vision from time to time?In type 2 diabetes, the evidence of retinopathy is quickly realized. One-fifth of type 2 patients show signs of retinopathy when their diabetes is first diagnosed. Ultimately, diabetes will cause changes in the eyes for 78 percent of type 2 patients.
Routine Testing Detects Changes
Many patients with retinopathy don't have any warning symptoms in the early stages of the disease. Therefore, routine screening is the most important factor in trying to prevent the development of severe blood vessel damage in the eyes.
In type 2 diabetes, it's critical that patients have a complete exam when they're diagnosed. That's because so many patients have evidence of changes to the eye even at the onset of diabetes. This exam should include eye drops that dilate the pupil, making it possible to thoroughly investigate the retina.
Two Types of Retinopathy
There are two types of diabetic retinopathy, non-proliferative or proliferative (background). Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy is the most common form of blood vessel damage in the eye due to diabetes. It accounts for about 80 percent of all cases.
Let's look at how diabetic retinopathy works. Diabetes damages blood vessels in different organs of the body, including the retina of the eye and the kidneys. Over time, people with diabetes lose some blood vessels in these tissues.
In addition to this loss, the remaining blood vessels become "leaky." Blood and fat (blood lipid) can seep out of these damaged capillaries. This makes the retina bleed and swell.
Although non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy rarely leads to total blindness, five to 20 percent of patients still become legally blind within five years. That's because the retina swells and isn't treated, and because blood vessel damage spreads.
The longer you have diabetes, the greater the damage to and loss of the retinal blood vessels. Eventually, the retina can't give itself the oxygen and nutrition it needs to function properly. It tries to grow new blood vessels to replace the damaged ones. However, the blood vessels that grow are not normal and are likely to bleed without any warning. This is a dangerous stage of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Once patients reach this stage, half of them will become legally blind without treatment.