Did you know? Diabetic Retinaopthy (DR for short) is the number one eye disease causing insomnia in Europe and America! In China, with the improvement of people’s living standard, the number of diabetic patients is more than twice as many as 10 years ago, the incidence of DR has greatly increased, and the number of diabetic patients who go blind as a result is increasing day by day! However, about 50% of diabetic patients do not know about DR at all, and nearly 90% of them never have regular eye examinations after their diabetes is diagnosed in internal medicine, and many of them already suffer from DR, and by the time the patients feel the loss of vision themselves, it is likely that the best time for treatment has been missed, and the prognosis of vision is relatively poor. The main reason for such a result is that patients do not know enough about DR, or even don’t know DR at all! Simply put, it is a retinopathy caused by the destruction of microvasculature due to diabetes. The pathogenesis is: long-term hyperglycemia, retinal vascular wall erosion, on the one hand, increased permeability of the vessel wall, resulting in retinal hemorrhage, exudation, edema; on the other hand, small blood vessels become thin, or even occlusion, resulting in retinal ischemia, hypoxia, stimulating the emergence of neovascularization, this neovascular growth in a hypoxic environment is very fragile, very easy to rupture, a large amount of blood into the eye, resulting in sudden loss of vision The new blood vessels that grow in this hypoxic environment are very fragile and can easily rupture. The fibrous tissue around the neovascularization will further contract and pull the retina, resulting in retinal detachment and loss of vision; the neovascularization grows toward the front of the eye, resulting in glaucoma and loss of vision. Therefore, the appearance of neovascularization is a sign of worsening DR lesions! Who is prone to diabetic retinopathy? In general, all diabetic patients are at risk of the disease. Therefore, once diabetes is diagnosed, you should go to the ophthalmology department to check the fundus as soon as possible. For patients who have had diabetes for more than 15 years, whose blood sugar is often poorly controlled, who have hypertension and hyperlipidemia, and who have developed kidney complications, are even more at risk for DR, and must have their eyes examined in detail with dilated pupils. What are the symptoms of DR? In the early stage, there are no symptoms. This is very dangerous! Without symptoms, the patient cannot be alerted to the appearance of eye complications. Only in the advanced stage, when neovascularization appears, the patient will have a rapid loss of vision. Ocular manifestations of DR? Typical manifestations: retinal microangioma, retinal hemorrhage, exudation, edema in the early stage (when there may be no symptoms), and massive appearance, retinal detachment, glaucoma in the late stage. Treatment of DR? Early stage: retinal laser treatment. The purpose is to stop and reduce the production of retinal neovascularization. Late stage: surgical treatment. The purpose is to remove the blood accumulation in the eye and repair the retina. Prevention of DR? We ophthalmologists feel sorry from the bottom of our hearts whenever we see many advanced patients who end up blind because they are not detected and treated early. In fact, DR can be prevented. First: insist on controlling blood sugar. Second: insist on regular outpatient fundus examination and fundus photography and FFA (retinal angiography) every 6 months, which is very important for timely detection of neovascularization! Third: If you find any problems with your fundus, actively cooperate with your doctor and undergo retinal laser treatment. Although, there is a slight risk of vision reduction with laser, 40 years of clinical evidence shows that post-laser patients end up with much better vision than those who do not have laser! This is because, laser reduces the risk of sudden blindness. Moreover, laser treatment does not require hospitalization and is far less expensive than surgical treatment. In short, prevention is better than cure. Regular checkups, strict blood sugar control, and timely laser treatment can save most diabetic patients from losing their eyesight. This requires not only the efforts of doctors, but also the active participation and cooperation of the majority of diabetic patients, using medical knowledge and technology, together with you, relying on science, to overcome the disease!