Yes!
Among patients with diabetes, about 1/3 are accompanied by diabetic retinopathy, and the longer the course of diabetes, the worse the control of blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood lipids, and the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy increases. The higher it is, the greater the blinding rate.
According to data from the International Association for the Prevention of Blindness: In 2020, 1 million people around the world will be blind due to diabetic retinopathy, and more than 3 million people will have moderate to severe visual impairment.
Can you sit back and relax if you control your blood sugar well?
No!
Glycoretinosis is a very "cunning" disease that often occurs silently. A large number of patients do not have any symptoms in the early stages, but the retina has been quietly eroded by the high-sugar environment, resulting in a series of lesions.
At this time, the lesion has not yet invaded the macula, the core area responsible for our vision, so the patient's vision has not declined significantly.
Once a patient experiences significant vision loss, it means that the disease has become quite serious. In the later stages of the disease, many patients will experience a sudden sharp decline in vision or even loss of vision due to fundus hemorrhage and retinal detachment. If treatment is not received until this time, it is impossible for vision to return to its original level.
Let’s take a look at how high the prevalence of diabetes is:
Among patients with type 1 diabetes for 10 years: about 80% of patients will develop diabetes. Almost 100% of patients with a disease course of more than 15 years develop diabetes.
Among patients with type 2 diabetes: About 15% of patients develop diabetes at the time of diagnosis. Among patients who have been ill for 10 years, the prevalence of diabetes reaches 55%. After 15 years of illness, Among the above patients, 70% will develop diabetes.
Therefore, please do not think that you can sit back and relax if you have diabetes under good control of your blood sugar.
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The first-line treatment plan recommended by clinicians is intravitreal injection of "anti-VEGF" drugs (intraocular injections) for 5 consecutive months. It fully absorbs moisture from the floor and prevents the floor from deforming due to being soaked in water.
However, a high-sugar environment will always exist in diabetic patients. Especially when blood sugar is not well controlled, ischemia and hypoxia will always exist, and VEGF will continue to rise repeatedly, so monthly OCT review of edema is required. , once it is found that the thickness of the macula (floor) has increased, timely injection is required to reduce VEGF, reduce new blood vessel formation, reduce edema, and prevent it from going blind.
On the contrary, if treatment is not adhered to after diagnosis, it is likely to worsen within a few years and eventually lead to blindness.
Although laser photocoagulation therapy can still effectively reduce the risk of severe vision loss in patients with diabetic retinopathy, its efficacy is not as effective as single or combined anti-VEGF therapy. Laser treatment should only be considered when anti-VEGF drugs are ineffective.
The side effects of laser phototherapy are also more prominent:
Laser can cause peripheral visual field loss, so that we can only see in front and unable to see to the side. Work such as driving is very dangerous. .
The retinal tissue or nerves are damaged, so night vision will gradually decrease.
Laser can cause certain irritation to the eyes and can cause side effects such as dry eyes or pain.
Laser is also a kind of surgery, and the occurrence and harm of postoperative infection cannot be underestimated.