SHREVEPORT, La. – Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the eyes.
“Diabetes primarily affects the retina, causing poor blood flow and damage to the tiny, tiny blood vessels that supply the retina, the inner lining of the eye that allows us to see,” said Dr. Ashley Sipes, an ophthalmologist at Willis Knighton Health System.
It leads to leakage and bleeding.
“Also swelling, especially in the area of central vision. And that’s one of the main causes of blindness from diabetic problems, ”explained Sipes.
High, uncontrolled blood sugar levels are the cause of the disease.
“It’s hyperglycemia that does the damage. It essentially kills or damages the retinal cells, mainly due to a lack of oxygen, ”she said.
Dr. Ashley Sipes
Sipes said diabetic retinopathy can occur in patients with all types of diabetes.
“We not only have to take care of our type 1 diabetics and type 2 diabetics, but also our gestational diabetes, which we often forget,” she said. “Their bodies are sometimes even more sensitive to this damage during pregnancy. So they also have to be screened. “
But type 1 diabetics are at greatest risk.
“Type 1 diabetics tend to be the most at risk just because they’ve usually had it the longest,” Sipes said.
Initially, patients may not have any noticeable symptoms.
“Almost half of my diabetics have some form of diabetic retinopathy, and the damage is in the peripheral retina. And when I say that, I just don’t mean in the center of vision, but in the periphery, ”said Sipes. “You won’t have any symptoms.”
If left untreated, it becomes even more dangerous.
“When someone has vision loss due to diabetes, this is usually the area with the sharpest central eyesight. It’s called the macula. And when it swells up from diabetes, it swells up like a sponge and can’t do its job properly, “Sipes said.
Injection in the eyeball
There is no cure for diabetic retinopathy. But it’s treatable. One treatment is an injection into the eye.
“There’s a drug they inject called anti-VEGF that was one of the biggest breakthroughs in my life,” said Sipes. “You can use this not only with diabetes, but also in some cases with macular degeneration. It was remarkable. “
Other treatments are laser surgery and vitrectomy.
But the best treatment is prevention and control of diabetes and blood sugar.
“These annual checkups are really important for diagnosing not just diabetic retinopathy, but all of the things that can happen to blood sugar,” said Sipes.
