DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

Diabetes mellitus is a hereditary disorder caused by an alteration in sugar metabolism; the blood concentration of a sugar called glucose (glycaemia) is higher than normal and it is necessary to constantly reduce it through diets and therapies based on glycaemia-lowering substances and insulin injections.
Diabetes causes an alteration of the blood vessels of the body and in particular of the small blood vessels (capillaries), that bring blood to the tissues and exchange oxygen and nourishment with them. The capillaries are damages by the interaction between the constituents of their walls and the sugar circulating in blood in an excessive way. The diabetic retinopathy is a local manifestation of diabetes. Though every structure of the eye can be interested by the diabetic disorder (recurrent eyelid and conjunctival infections, cataract, glaucoma, paralysis of oculomotor muscles) it is the retina, rich in capillaries, to be particularly damaged.