Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a chronic complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). After 20 years of diabetes duration Diabetic retinopathy, occurs in 90% of the type 1 diabetes mellitus patients and in 60% of the type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, being the main cause of blindness in adults. High glicemia and blood pressure levels, along with the long diabetes mellitus duration, are the main risk factors for diabetes mellitus Diabetic retinopathy. Other factors can also be associated with the loss of vision that occurs in diabetes mellitus. The risk factors can be classified as genetical or non-genetical, the latter including factors related or not to diabetes mellitus, environmental and ocular. Control of the known risk factors and effective treatment are the main basis of the Diabetic retinopathy management. The aim of this review is to provide to the ophthalmologist an up to date information of these factors, with emphasis in the preventive aspects of the visual loss in the patients with diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy; Risk factors; Glucose tolerance test; Hypertension; Diabetic nephropathies; Low vision
