Diabetic Retinopathy Symptoms and How it is Detected
Diabetic Retinopathy Symptoms and How it is Detected
Vision
What Are The Symptoms?
Diabetic retinopathy often has no early warning signs. At some point,though, you may have macular edema. It blurs vision, making it hard todo things like read and drive. In some cases, your vision will getbetter or worse during the day.
As new blood vessels form at the back of the eye, they can bleed(hemorrhage) and blur vision. The first time this happens it may not bevery severe. In most cases, it will leave just a few specks of blood, orspots, floating in your vision. They often go away after a few hours.
These spots are often followed within a few days or weeks by a muchgreater leakage of blood. The blood will blur your vision. In extremecases, a person will only be able to tell light from dark in that eye.It may take the blood anywhere from a few days to months or even yearsto clear from inside of your eye. In some cases, the blood will notclear. You should be aware that large hemorrhages tend to happen morethan once, often during sleep.
How Is It Detected?
Diabetic retinopathy is detected during an eye examination that includes:
A. Visual Acuity Test: This eye chart test measures how well you see at various distances.
B. Pupil Dilation: The eye care professional places drops into the eye to widen the pupil. This allows him or her to see more of the retina and look for signs of diabetic retinopathy. After the examination, close-up vision may remain blurred for several hours.
C. Ophthalmoscopy: This is an examination of the retina in which the eye care professional: (1) looks through a device with a special magnifying lens that provides a narrow view of the retina, or (2) wearing a headset with a bright light, looks through a special magnifying glass and gains a wide view of the retina.
D. Tonometry: A standard test that determines the fluid pressure inside the eye. Elevated pressure is a possible sign of glaucoma, another common eye problem in people with diabetes.
Your eye care professional will look at your retina for early signs ofthe disease, such as:
(1) leaking blood vessels,
(2) retinal swelling,such as macular edema,
(3) pale, fatty deposits on the retina -- signs of leaking blood vessels,
(4) damaged nerve tissue, and
(5) any changes in the blood vessels.
Should your doctor suspect you need treatment for macular edema, he/she may ask you to have a test called "fluorescein angiography. In this test, a special dye is injected into your arm. Pictures are then taken as the dye passes through the blood vessels in the retina. This test allows your doctor to find the leaking blood vessels.
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