7% of the Canarian population is diabetic and is more likely to suffer retina diseases, as evidenced during the XX Congress of the Spanish Retina and Vitreous Society that is celebrated in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Thus, the capital of Grancanaria has become the meeting point for dozens of ophthalmologists and specialists of the national and international landscape to discuss the latest advances on retina pathologies, on the occasion of the meeting, according to the organization in a press release.
In this sense, the National Distributor of Technologies for Ophthalmology, Bloss Group, has offered the interactive symposium 'Challenge The Experts.Symposium of diagnosis by multimodal image of retinal pathologies'.
Ophthalmologists Martine Mauget-Faysee and Roberto Gallego Pinazo have participated in the present).
During the symposium a debate table has taken place to treat the new trends and advantages of multimodal image diagnostic systems, with the intervention of Professor Francisco Gómez Ulla and doctors Francisco Cabrera, Miguel A. Zapata and José Luis Olea.
On the other hand, one of the keys to carrying out an effective diagnosis and treating patients affecting the problem focusing from the first moment is having maximum precision systems for the exploration of the retina.
Almost 3% of the canaries suffer retinal damage
In the Canary Islands, approximately 7% of the population is diabetic and almost 3% suffer retinal damage so "early treatment can contribute to curb visual loss or even recover all lost vision, while a treatment in advanced phasesIn general, the improvement of vision hinders, "according to statements by the Secretary of the Spanish Retina and Vitreous Society, Alfredo García Layana.
In addition, in Spain the most common retinal pathologies are macular degeneration associated with age, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and retinal alterations by high myopia.In the Canary Islands, diabetic retinopathy is the most frequent pathology, affecting 3% of the population.
On the other hand, the latest investigations show that soon "diabetic retinopathy will become the first cause of legal blindness in the developed world, unbaging macular degeneration associated with age", as Francisco Cabrera, president of theCanarian Society of Ophthalmology and Ophthalmologist of the Retina Section of the Insular University Hospital of Gran Canaria.
It is a pathology with a growing incidence due to the progression of diabetes between the population and the late diagnosis of the disease, since it is estimated that 46% of patients with diabetic retinopathy are not diagnosed.
Diabetic retinopathy, the first cause of affiliations to eleven in the Canary Islands
"In the Canary Islands, diabetic retinopathy was the first cause of new affiliations to eleven in 2012, with 20% of the total, compared to 10% registered in the whole of Spain," said Dr. Francisco Cabrera.
There are promising treatments to combat retinal pathologies still in an experimental phase (gene therapy, cell therapy, biomaterials, bioengineering and artificial vision, among others), but carrying out "a healthy life, with a diet based on the Mediterranean diet, notSmoking, avoiding overweight, and controlling blood pressure, as well as glycemia "are the tools that contribute decisively to preserve the quality of the vision, as Dr. García Layana points out.
Finally, in the field of prevention visits are recommendedperiodic to the ophthalmologist to explore the fundus, especially if there is a family history of macular degeneration associated with age or if the patient is diabetic.
