Indore: Around 25% of diabetic patients in the city are suffering from diabetic retinopathy that causes bleeding in retina.All India Ophthalmologist Society’s scientific committee chairman Dr Lalit Verma said that diabetic retinopathy patients above 50 years of age were vulnerable to complete loss of eyesight and could lose it all of a sudden.“In most of the diabetic retinopathy cases that I have diagnosed, patients come with a complaint that they were unable to see all of sudden. Usually, it happens when they wake up in morning,” said Dr Verma.Cases of diabetes have increased due to adoption of western food culture. In western countries everyone goes for annual diabetic check-up, but, this culture is not followed here, he added.Diabetes affects every body part. AIOS have planned to launch an annual campaign - See Clearly, Check Yearly - in order to aware people about annual check-up for diabetes.Dr Norman Sharma said “Diabetes affect blood vessels and creates molecular pressure in it. The blood vessels present behind the retina burst causing bleeding.”Ophthalmologist Dr Dhirendra Aggarwal said now, diabetic retinopathy could be treated with the use of an anti- vascular endothelial growth factor drug, which is directly injected in eye. The injection was initially available only in foreign countries, but, recently a similar injection was developed in India.The injection has its effect only for five months and after that a patient again needs it. “If a patient controls level of sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and haemoglobin in his body, he will need injection only for few months. Later, he can just take medicines and live a normal life,” Dr Aggarwal said.

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