In Italy “30% of patients with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, are also affected by diabetic retinopathy, a serious eye disease. It is one of the main causes of blindness in the Western world, a disabling and subtle complication because diabetic retinopathy does not cause symptoms. The patient may not have any disorders or may have severe ones such as retinal detachment. For this reason, prevention is essential. So you need to check your blood sugar and have your fundus screened as a simple test that should be done at least every 1 or 2 years. If the diabetic population undergoes effective screening as prescribed by all guidelines, the incidence of this disease would collapse because it is possible to intervene when the first lesions appear. It is no coincidence that we dedicated a special session of our conference to the prevention of diabetic retinopathy “. Thus Graziano Di Cianni, president of the Association of Diabetic Doctors, to the Ruetir Salute, on the sidelines of the XI National Conference of the AMD Foundation, entitled” Amd diabetology: growth, community and participation “which was held in Rome.
“All diabetic patients are at risk – says Di Cianni – because the development of diabetic retinopathy is related to the control of blood sugar and the duration of the disease. So if patients undergo an early screening action every year, or at most every two years, we diabetic doctors are able to intercept the slightest lesions and therefore to intervene on the risk factors. Obviously this is possible thanks to the collaboration that must exist between the diabetologist and the ophthalmologist because the final diagnosis and the type of intervention is up to the ophthalmologist colleagues ” .
Over the years “we have witnessed a decrease in the incidence of diabetic retinopathy – underlines Di Cianni – because it has been understood that glycemic control over time is capable, in a preponderant way, of acting on the development of this serious complication that can lead to the detachment of retina and maculopathy. So by controlling blood sugar from the beginning we prevent diabetic retinopathy ”.
