Retinopathies

The most common cause of a retinopathy is diabetes, a disease caused by the inability of the organism to process sugars correctly. High blood sugar damages blood vessels, especially the small ones, such as the capillaries of the retina. Other causes of retinopathies can be hypertension or high level of cholesterol. The majority of systemic pathologies produces symptoms in the retina. For this reason many times the diagnosis of systemic diseases is made by the ophthalmologist by a dilated eye examination. In the past it was possible to diagnose a retinopathy just in case the disease was at advanced stages, while nowadays we can diagnose it, and therefore begin to treat it properly, since the early stages, thanks to sophisticated exams such as Fluorescein angiography (FAG) and Optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Forms of retinopathies

Age-related macular degeneration is a medical condition that affects the central area of the retina, called macula. Generally this disease affects oldpeople, and among them a high percentage are women. These macular degenerations can develop slowly (dry or nonexudative forms) or very quickly (wet or exudative forms). There are particular effective medicines, especially to treat wet forms, that are directly injected in the eye.
There are also forms of degeneration that affect young people, usually due to myopia or to genetic reasons.