Retinal changes in diabetic patients

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Vu Thi Duyen - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

Diabetic retinopathy or diabetic retinopathy, if not detected and treated in time, will be very dangerous, can cause blindness and seriously affect the patient's life.

Diabetic retinopathy is a condition in which high blood sugar means increased blood pressure. As a result, it affects the back of the eye, also known as the retina. If this condition is not detected and treated in time, it can lead to blindness.

2.1 Diabetes causes complications of retinopathy of the eye When your blood sugar is higher than normal, it will destroy the capillary walls at the bottom of the eye, causing blindness - this is one of the complications. Chronic eye disease is very common in diabetic patients. Normally, the capillaries are already permeable, but because they are affected by high blood sugar, the fluid from the inside of the vessel can escape to the outside, causing edema, hemorrhage, and retinal damage.
There are more serious cases if the macula of the eye is edematous, your vision will be significantly reduced. The capillaries are destroyed, so the blood supply to the retina is not enough. At this time, the body will have to stimulate the formation of new capillaries. However, these capillaries are very fragile and will cause heavy bleeding at the full stage and the vitreous is cloudy.
In addition, newly formed capillaries also create scars in the retina. During the healing process, the scar will have to shrink and the retina can be detached, from which the retina will lose vision forever. It is the mechanism leading to blindness in diabetic patients.

2.2 Diabetes Causes Cataracts Many studies have shown that cataracts can occur in older people without diabetes. However, for patients with diabetes, the risk of this complication is up to 1.6 times higher. Even so, young people with diabetes are still at risk of developing cataracts. This disease progresses very quickly, only for a period of time if the patient does not have good control of the sugar in the body.
Diabetes will cause eye complications that cause vision loss. If you've just had a complication and or it's mild, just wear sunglasses when you're out in the sun or take medication to keep your cataracts from progressing. As for those with severe disease, it is definitely necessary to have surgery to replace the lens, then vision can return to normal.
2.3 Glaucoma Glaucoma is considered a pretty serious disease because it is a condition in which the optic nerve is destroyed.
People with diabetes are 1.4 times more likely to develop glaucoma than people without diabetes. This rate will increase even higher with increasing age and longer duration of diabetes. If 1 or 2 eyes have high pressure, then the vitreous will leak out.
The increased pressure will press on the blood vessels that are feeding the retina and the 1st optic nerve, from which the nerve and retina are both destroyed and vision will be lost.

In summary, diabetic retinopathy is one of the very dangerous complications, resulting in vision loss and vision loss if not detected and treated early. Health is gold, only health can you have a happy and complete life. Currently, customers can register for a screening package for diabetes and dyslipidemia at Vinmec International General Hospital to help detect pre-diabetes early, accurately classify diabetes type, build develop a nutritional regimen, monitor to minimize the risks and complications caused by diabetes.
Using the screening package for diabetes and dyslipidemia at Vinmec, customers will receive:
Endocrine specialist examination (with appointment) Total urinalysis (by automatic machine) Determination of Glucose Determination of HbA1c Determination Determination of Uric Acid Quantification of Cholesterol Determination of HDL-C (High density lipoprotein Cholesterol) Determination of LDL-C (Low density lipoprotein Cholesterol) Determination of Triglycerides Quantification of Urea Quantification of Creatinine Measurement of AST Activity (GOT) Measurement of ALT Activity (GPT) ) Measurement of GGT activity (Gama glutamyl Transferase) Quantification of MAU (Micro Albumin Arine) Echocardiogram, transthoracic pericardial echocardiogram Normal electrocardiogram, Carotid Doppler ultrasound, Transcranial Doppler (carotid) Doppler ultrasound , veins of the lower extremities (Bilateral lower extremity arteries).