DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

 is damage to the retina caused by complications of diabetes, which can eventually lead to blindness. It is an ocular manifestation of systemic disease which affects patients who have had long standing diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy often has no early warning signs. New blood vessels form at the back of the eye as a part of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), they can bleed (ocular hemorrhage)  and blur vision.

Elevation of blood-glucose levels can also cause edema (swelling) of the crustalline lens. This edema often causes temporary myopia (nearsightedness).This will manifest as blurring of distance vision while near vision remains unchanged.

All people with diabetes mellitus are at risk. The longer a person has diabetes, the higher the risk of developing some ocular problem.

Diabetic retinopathy is detected during an eye examination.The best way of addressing diabetic retinopathy is to monitor it vigilantly and keeping good control of blood glucose.