In simple terms, the retina is the part of the eye that is responsible for interpreting visual information. It contains millions of cells that are light-sensitive in nature. These cells relay visual information to the brain via the optic nerve. As you can imagine, damage to the retina due to underlying diseases can, therefore, vastly impact your vision. Understanding the different types and symptoms of common retinal diseases and the retina treatments available can help.

Types and symptoms of common retinal diseases

Some of the types and symptoms of common retinal diseases are:

1. Diabetic retinopathy: Unmanaged diabetes can cause the blood vessels in the eyes to deteriorate and damage the retina, leading to vision loss.
2. Retinal tears: When the vitreous shrinks, it ends up tugging on the retina, leading to tears. Many tears in the retinal tissue can cause vision changes like floaters or flashes of lights.
3. Retinal detachment: If there is a tear in the retina, it can cause a build-up of fluid under the retina, causing it to detach from the tissue underneath. This leads to vision loss if not corrected on time.
4. Macular degeneration: This is a disease in which the retina’s center deteriorates, leading to a gradual loss of vision. It can also cause blurriness in the central vision and blind spots in the visual field.
5. Macular hole: This is a minor defect in the retina’s center caused by injury or shrinking of the vitreous.
6. Epiretinal membrane: A cellophane-like tissue sits on top of the retina. When this tissue has a scar, it can appear crinkled and cause blurred and crooked vision.
7. Retinitis pigmentosa: This is an inherited degenerative disease that leads to the progressive loss of vision.

The symptoms of these retinal diseases tend to overlap, and are the following:

1. Loss of vision over time
2. Floaters in the vision
3. Depreciation of side vision
4. Distorted vision (e.g., straight lines appear wavy)
5. Blurry vision

Available Retina Treatments

The different types of retina treatments include:

1. Laser surgery
2. Freezing probes to fix retinal tears
3. Injecting gas into the eyes
4. Replacing the fluid in the eye
5. Indenting the surface of the eye
6. Shrinking abnormal blood vessels
7. Implanting a retinal prosthetic
8. Injecting medicines into the eye

About the author- Dr. Ritika Sachdev, Additional Director at Center For Sight