Diabetic Retinopathy is an eye condition that develops in people undergoing the problem of diabetes. Some people with diabetes tend to develop severe complications in their eyes, and if left untreated it can even lead to sight los

Talking about Diabetes, it’s a disease that affects your body’s ability to use or produce insulin adequately to control blood sugar (glucose) levels. Too much glucose levels for a long time in the blood can cause damage in many parts of the body such as kidneys, heart and blood vessels in the eyes.

Inside human eyes, there are a lot of small blood vessels that assist in the proper regulation of blood to vision ensuring part of our eye (retina). In diabetic retinopathy condition, these blood vessels may leak, swell or close off completely, resulting in improper blood circulation leading to unclear/blurry vision. In critical cases, total blindness can also be caused due to diabetic retinopathy.

Consequently, there exist numerous ways to keep your blood sugars levels and blood pressure in a target range. Keeping a low blood sugar will help you in lowering the risk of developing severe problems with your eyes.

Here are four stages of Retinopathy:

Background Retinopathy

Stage one of Diabetic Retinopathy in which the eyesight isn’t affected but is an alarming sign of preventing the problem from developing more and getting worse. If you visit for your eye screening test, you might hear it as R0. All you need to ensure at this stage of retinopathy is a controlled blood sugar level.

Non-Proliferative Retinopathy

Also referred to as R1, it’s the second stage of retinopathy. It brings more severe damage to our eyes, and such a condition often demands more screening of eyes to check for any changes.

The stage three of the retinopathy i.e. R2 means you are at high risk of losing your sight and you will have to go through a rigorous treatment process for it to get cured. In this type of retinopathy, new blood vessels begin to develop at the back of the eye. Consequently, lack of oxygen to the eye from vascular diseases forces the vessels to become thin and occluded.

It’s a distinctive kind of retinopathy which especially affects the middle of the eye (macula), which may mean that the individual suffering will not be able to read or drive anymore. You’ll hear M0 if maculopathy is not diagnosed to you and M1 if in case the fluid has started to build-up in your eye and is affecting your sight too.

Conclusion

If you are undergoing from type 1 diabetes, then you can sit back and relax, as people with type 1 diabetes rarely develop a condition of retinopathy. Whereas, people with type 2 diabetes usually are at high risk for Diabetic Retinopathy. Therefore, it’s recommended to people with type 2 diabetes to visit their ophthalmologist and go through a dilated eye exam.