Dad's eyesight suddenly dropped, it was caused by diabetic retinopathy

Uncle Li (a pseudonym), 67 years old this year, has suffered from diabetes for more than 13 years. A year ago, his vision in both eyes suddenly deteriorated. He went to the hospital for examination and found that it was diabetes that caused "diabetic retinopathy", which almost led to blindness.

Last year, Uncle Li suddenly had blurred vision in both eyes. At first, he thought it was presbyopia, so he went to the optical shop to get glasses, but his vision did not improve, and even dark shadows appeared in front of his eyes, which made Uncle Li very worried. In October 2022, Uncle Li and his family came to the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University for treatment. After examination by Zhao Yan, deputy chief physician of the hospital's fundus disease specialist, Uncle Li was diagnosed with "bilateral type II diabetic ischemic macular retinopathy and bilateral type II diabetic retinopathy".

President Wu Jianhua examines a patient (Photo provided by Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University)

After completing the preoperative examination, the hospital director Wu Jianhua performed a "right eye vitreous injection" on Mr. Li, and the next day he performed a "left eye vitreous injection". The operation went smoothly, and anti-inflammatory and infection prevention treatment was given after the operation.

Director Zhao Yan introduced that diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes. The retinopathy of type 2 diabetes is mainly caused by poor control of blood sugar levels. It not only affects vision, but also involves the macular area and causes macular edema, and those who experience symptoms such as visual distortion.

Wu Jianhua, director of Wuhan University Aier Eye Hospital, reminded that the probability of vision loss and blindness caused by diabetic retinopathy is 25 times higher than that of non-diabetic patients. Many diabetic patients pay attention to daily blood sugar monitoring, but often ignore the importance of eye examination. After being diagnosed with diabetes, you should develop the habit of regular fundus examination, and do not wait until your vision deteriorates before checking, so as to achieve early detection and early treatment of diabetic retinopathy.