Many people around the world become diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas either does not secrete enough or becomes unable to process insulin. Diabetes can affect many aspects of a person's life, including their vision. The core risk to a diabetic person's vision occurs when the diabetes affects the retina. The affect of diabetes on the retina is called diabetic retinopathy. .
Diabetic retinopathy comes in stages starting with background diabetic retinopathy and is when the arteries of the retina become fragile and seep out, causing hemorrhaging. Edema of the retina is also included in the background diabetic retinopathy, which is when the retina swells, which leads to diminishing vision. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy is the second stage and is when circulation problems occur and deny the retina of oxygen. Neovascularization is when new vessels begin to develop to try to maintain oxygen levels within the retina and these new vessels tend to hemorrhage easily and bleed into the retina and the vitreous humor. The hemorrhaging causes spots or floaters; which also causes reduced vision. In the later stages, more anomalous vessels appear, along with scar tissue. The signs and symptoms of diabetic retinopathy fluctuate due to the stages of the disease and include blurred vision, floaters, and sudden vision loss. Diabetic retinopathy can be detected by an ophthalmoscope and treated by a vitreo-retinal surgeon.
To conclude, diabetes is a disease that can affect many parts of a person's life. One of the most important parts of someone's life that could become affected is sight. The biggest risk to vision is on the retina. Diabetic retinopathy is a disease that affects the retina of diabetic people. The retina hemorrhages and could become detached, and vision is blurred. This disease can be very harmful if not treated by a vitreo-retinal surgeon. .
