"No pain and no symptoms at first. You don't realize it, and you don't expect it. Vision may still be normal when the retina is already affected." This is how Dr Sylvie Feldman-Billard, endocrinologist at the Quinze-Vingt Hospital in Paris, sums up the appearance of diabetic retinopathy (which is sometimes complicated by macular edema in diabetics). This is one of the main reasons why the doctor strongly recommends that people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have a complete eye exam every year to be able to detect this deterioration before it reaches. the center of the eye and the retina with irreparable damage.
Because, according to medical statistics, 50% of patients with type 1 diabetes and 30% of those with type 2 diabetes will develop retinopathy involving the visual prognosis during their life and require intervention to reduce the risk of visual loss.
Diabetic retinopathy: what treatment?
The management of diabetic retinopathy depends on the stage of the disease and doctors will above all try to slow its progression. "In the early stages of nonproliferative retinopathy, regular monitoring may suffice. But when the disease becomes more severe, frequent eye tests are needed to determine when to start treatment. It is especially important to refer patients early to an ophthalmologist. type 2 diabetics with severe non-proliferative retinopathy because there is a 50% reduction in the risk of severe visual loss or major surgery if the treatment is done at this stage, ”explains the Quinze-Vingt.
Patients with retinopathy may present with significant visual loss: "They should be encouraged to follow Keto Diet Plan for weight loss and visual rehabilitation courses with an ophthalmologist or optometrist trained or experienced in the management of low vision cases".
Retinopathy: does it happen?
Diabetic retinopathy can be treated with a laser: this is panretinal photocoagulation. A light beam penetrates the eye without any incision and destroys the small damaged vessels: it is a little painful operation, performed under local anesthesia but which may require several sessions. The aim is to prevent the development of new vessels on the retina and to reduce the risk of vitreous hemorrhages and retinal detachment.
But when the disease is at an advanced stage called "proliferating" with a vitreous hemorrhage or fibrosis (destruction of the tissues of the eye), laser treatment is no longer sufficient. Retinal surgery is then required to replace the vitreous body inside the eye: this operation is called a vitrectomy. Unfortunately, even in successful cases, this surgical operation does not restore the original visual acuity.
