Diabetes Mellitus Could Be a Blind Eye

Diabetic retinopathy, or damage the eye's retina caused by complications of diabetes can lead to permanent blindness without any prior symptoms. Routine eye exams are the only prevention, because most patients do not experience early symptoms at all.

The most common symptoms in Diabetic Retinopathy (RD) are no symptoms, many patients come to the clinic in the condition it was too late because waiting for symptoms to appear. And if you diligently check, blood vessel damage can be detected early before it reaches the retina damage.

The earlier this condition is detected, the easier handling, among others, by firing the laser for approximately 20 minutes depending on the extent of damage. But if already blind, then most of the damage to the retina could not be repaired in any way.

Although most are not preceded by symptoms, sometimes there are symptoms to look out by people with diabetes that is, if the eye began to blur. In some people, vision is also disturbed by the shadows looking black floating (floating).

But in general, early-stage RD is often overlooked because the symptoms are difficult to identify. Therefore, diabetics over age 12 years are encouraged to perform eye examinations at least once a year.

Examination can be done in almost all eye clinics, particularly those with facilities opthalmoscopy or funduscopy. Unfortunately, in Indonesia, not all basic health services such as health centers have similar gear so as to check should go to a hospital or eye clinic.

8 percent of all people with diabetes have a risk of experiencing any type of blindness due to RD. In diabetes type I (DM-1), 90 percent of RD with an infected will experience varying degrees of severity after passing the age of 20 years.