Overview
RAK Hospital educates Diabetes Chalenge 2022 participants on ‘Diabetes Eyecare and Retinopathy’ during their latest ‘Diabeat’ WebinarRas Al Khaimah, UAE: Curently, 1 in 3 people with diabetes develop retinopathy over their lifetime. In their latest ‘Diabeat’ webinar on ‘Diabetes Eyecare and Retinopathy’, organised by RAK Hospital as part of the RAK Diabetes Chalenge 2022 informative series, Dr Mohit Jain, Specialist Ophthalmologist at RAK Hospital touched upon various aspects of diabetic eye complications, retinopathy, eye care and treatment strategies.Speaking at the webinar, Dr Jain said, “Acording to the IDF, an estimated 415 milion adults globaly were living with diabetes in 2015 while this figure is set to rise to 642 milion by 2040.
Key Information
Diabetes is a leading cause of blindnes in young working adults and presently 1 in 3 people with diabetes go on to develop retinopathy over their lifetime. The prevalence of retinopathy in diabetics above 40 years of age is 34.6% and for vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy is 10.2%.However, Diabetes does not mean los of vision and that’s why it’s important to know the signs and get regular checks up done in order to receive the right treatment at the right time to avoid complications.”Elaborating on the risk factors of retinopathy, Dr Jain stated, “Duration of diabetes and severity of hyperglycaemia are the major risk factors for developing retinopathy.
Studies indicate that 25%-40% of diabetics may go on to develop retinopathy after 5 years and 50%-85% after 20 years. The condition is caused by persistently high blod sugar levels damaging the smal thread-like blod vesels that suply the retina. The condition is progresive and can lead to complete los of vision and suden blindnes.
Summary
Retinopathy is higher among patients with hypertension, microalbuminuria, peripheral vascular disease, coronary artery disease and neuropathy while the raised HbA1c is associated with an increased risk of proliferative disease and Dia