Abstract

Background: Anemia has been recognized as a chronic complication of diabetes mellitus. Oxidative stress created by chronic hyperglycemia leads to RBC damage and is involved in the pathogenesis of anemia. Anemia induced hypoxia leads to vaso-proliferation in the retina and in turn to development and deterioration of diabetic retinopathy.
Objective: The aim of the study was to find out whether anemia is prevalent in cases of type II diabetes mellitus (DM). To find out whether there exist a relationship between anemia and diabetic retinopathy.
Materials and Methods: The study was done on total 135 subjects. The control group (Group-A) included 45 age and sex matched healthy subjects. The case group was divided into 2 groups, 45 subjects diagnosed with type II DM without diabetic retinopathy (Group-B) and 45 subjects of type II DM with diabetic retinopathy (Group-C). The mean hemoglobin level, total red blood cell (RBC) count and packed cell volume (PCV) were compared in 2 groups. Result: The mean hemoglobin level in Group-A, B, and C were 14.23±0.83 gm/dl, 12.22±0.11 gm/dl, and 10.44±0.23 gm/dl, respectively (p<0.001). The mean PCV in Group-A, B, and C were 44.21±0.34%, 41.11±1.22%, and 37.86±1.12%, respec- 3 3 tively (p<0.001). The mean RBC count in Group-A was 5.9 ±0.11 million/mm , Group-B was 5.4±0.83 million/mm , and in 3 the Group-C was 4.6±1.3 million/ mm . The mean hemoglobin level, RBC count, and PCV were found to be significantly lower in subjects with diabetes as compared to non-diabetic subjects. The values were further statistically significantly lower in diabetic subjects with retinopathy. Conclusion: We conclude that unrecognized anemia exists in diabetic subjects. The severity of anemia is greater in subjects with retinopathy. It is suggested that the hematological parameters should be evaluated and treated periodically in diabetic patients to reduce the load, of ocular morbidity due to retinopathy.