Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease that can have a significant effect on eye health. Because diabetes is a vascular disease, it can cause changes in the blood vessels that nourish the retina, causing them to weaken and leak fluid or tiny amounts of blood. If vessel damage progresses, portions of the retina will not get enough oxygen and the tissue responds by growing more blood vessels. These new vessels are weak and can eventually leak, causing the eye to fill with blood, obscuring vision. Diabetic Macular Edema, or DME, occurs when fluid leaks into the macula area, causing swelling of the retina, resulting in blurred vision. Over time, this blurring can lead to blindness. Very tight control of the blood sugar can reduce the risk of retinal complications, but studies have shown that the longer one has diabetes, the higher the risk of developing retinal complications. DME affects up to ten percent of all patients with diabetes, but it can affect as many as 75% of diabetic patients with the most severe form of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Over 75% of diabetics experience at least some changes in the blood vessels in the eye after 15 years of onset of the disease.
Current treatment for DME consists of using an argon laser to generate heat in body tissue which forces protein molecules in the affected tissue to clot and seal off leaking microaneurysms and intraretinal hemorrhages that threaten vision. Negative side effects of this include loss of peripheral vision and/or blind spots, depending on the location and number of burns placed. Even with successful treatment using this method, visual acuity often does not improve. The surgical option is to perform a vitrectomy to remove the blood clouded vitreous from the eye and replace it with a clear substance, which then allows treatment by laser as described above.
Soon, treatment for DME may be as simple as an in-office procedure that takes minutes and is easily administered by a retinal specialist.
