SEVERITY OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY IN RELATION WITH HEMOGLOBIN A1c AND SERUM LIPIDS

Abstract

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder caused due to an absolute lack of insulin or due to insulin resistance & impaired insulin secretion..It is a major medical problem throughout the world. In India it is estimated that there are 37.77 million diabetics and will contribute to 57 million diabetics by the year 2025 (1).. It is the leading cause of blindness between ages 20 & 74 in US (2). Diabetes can affect nearly every part of ocular anatomy. Ophthalmic complications of diabetes include diabetic retinopathy, delayed corneal healing, glaucoma, poor pupillary dilation, corneal nerve palsies etc. Diabetes retinopathy is the most common and potentially most blinding of the complications and remains the number one cause of new blindness in most industrialized countries (3,4).The researchers report that the prevalence of any diabetic retinopathy is 34.60%. The prevalence of proliferative diabetic retinopathy is 6.96%, diabetic macular edema is 6.81%, and vision threatening diabetic retinopathy (VTDR) is 10.20%(5). Prevalence of blindness due to DR has been estimated to be 5% and may be as high as 8%. Among the risk factors of diabetic retinopathy, the duration of diabetes is probably the strongest predictor for development and progression of retinopathy (6). The other risk factors include poor glycemic control, nephropathy, pregnancy, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and anemia. The protective effect of glycemic control has been confirmed by The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) (7) and The U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) (8). Dyslipidemia is a known risk factor for diabetic renal disease, but the effect of serum lipids on diabetic retinopathy and macular edema is still under investigation (9-11).

Quantitative analysis of optical coherence tomography in age related macular degeneration

“…Our study was compared to Querishi et al, 16 occurrence of disease between the two eyes. In our study, 88% had bilateral representation and Querishi et al, study observed as 74% had bilateral presentation.…”