Diabetes mellitus pertains to a group of metabolic diseases characterized by high blood sugar. This happens when there is inadequate insulin production or the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin. This condition causes various complications in your body, including your eyes. Vienna Eyecare Center’s expert optometrist in Fairfax, VA, discusses diabetic retinopathy along with its causes and symptoms.
Causes of Diabetic Retinopathy
Uncontrolled diabetes leads to glucose accumulation in your blood vessels. This hinders blood circulation to your organs, including your eyes. Your eyes’ retina is a thin layer of light-sensitive tissue that receives light and converts it to neural signals for image formation.
The impaired blood circulation decreases oxygen and nutrient delivery to the retina, resulting in impaired vision. As a compensatory mechanism, they may form abnormal, fragile blood vessels. Prolonged lodging of sugar particles in your blood vessels results in the vessel walls weakening. This increases the vessels’ risk to rupture and cause bleeding into your eyes.
Types and Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy
According to our eye doctor in Fairfax, VA, this disease affects both eyes most of the time. It also manifests different symptoms per stage. This condition reveals two general classifications:
Early or Non-proliferative
This stage usually manifests with mild or non-existent symptoms. Increased blood sugar affects the water content of your eye. This may result in abrupt change in your vision.
It also involves weakening of the retina’s blood vessel walls, resulting in tiny bulges. Also called microaneurysms, their rupture may leak blood into the macula and cause it to swell. Since the macula is the part of the retina responsible for central vision, you may experience blurred vision or dark spots across your visual field.
Since this phase is commonly asymptomatic, we highly recommend having regular eye care in Fairfax, VA. This may include dilated eye exams that can help us detect this condition and prevent its progression.
Advanced or Proliferative
In this stage, decreased blood circulation leads to oxygen deprivation of the retina. As a compensatory mechanism, your body forms new blood vessels. Also known as neovascularization, this is the hallmark sign of this phase. Nonetheless, these new blood vessels are abnormal and incapable of supplying the retina with the needed blood.
These new blood vessels’ fragile nature results in their rupture, causing blood leakage to the eye. Scar tissue formation also comes with the neovascularization. This causes the retina to wrinkle or detach. Once this happens, your central and peripheral vision may be greatly impaired. Eventually, it may cause vision loss.
If you have any further questions on the causes and symptoms of diabetic retinopathy, call us at (703) 938-7633. You may also fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.
