What is Diabetic Retinopathy?

Diabetes is a disorder in which body does not process sugar properly in the body which leads to increase in the sugar in body. This excessive sugar leads to damage in the body.Eye is the most important organ affected by high sugar and this can lead to blindness. This blindness is totally preventable if treatment is started at early stages. 

High blood sugar affects the small vessels of the eye which start bleeding and this leads to spots in front of eyes. This also leads to leakage of fluid in the layers of retina.This leads to macular edema which causes decrease in vision of the patient. 

High sugar and high fat also leads to deposit of lipids in the retina. This is seen as hard exudates in fundus picture.There is importance of keeping cholesterol (Total Lipid) at lower level in addition to keeping sugar levels down.

Haemoglobin carries oxygen to the retina. The haemoglobin should be adequate in Diabetic Patient. If haemoglobin is low in such patients ischemia (loss os blood supply) sets in the retina much earlier than expected. Ischemia  leads to irreversible vision loss.

This diabetic retinopathy is not only disease caused by high sugar levels but other metabolic factors also play role in its pathogenesis thus  It must be fought at different levels to prevent vision loss due to it.