Can antibiotics cause retinal ablation?
Is it true if consuming antibiotics can cause retinal ablation? Before discussing further, first understand the retina.
When you are diagnosed with a bacterial infection, the doctor will usually prescribe antibiotics to resolve it. However, antibiotics may have a side effect on eye health, such as caused by retinal ablation. How is the fact?
Introduction to Retinal ablation
Human eyeballs are filled by a vitreous gel liquid as a firm supporter. In certain conditions, such as age-increase, this gel fluid function becomes reduced and can cause the retinal layer to become interested. When the retina is detached from the inner wall of the eyeball, retinal detachments are present.
Caution, this is a medical emergency. The reason, the release of the retina will result in impaired retinal function. When left untreated, the greater your risk of experiencing permanent vision loss in the affected eye.
The worst condition that patients can experience retinal ablation is the loss of vision or blindness.
Retinal ablation does not cause pain, but there are some symptoms before the retina is removed. These symptoms include:
- Blurred vision.
- Loss of vision, as if there was a curtain pulled across the area of your vision, with a dark shadow effect.
- There are sudden flashes of light that appear when looking sideways.
- Suddenly saw a lot of black spots in the field of vision
Retinal ablation due to antibiotics?
Some of these years, there are reports that the use of antibiotics, especially fluoroynamic groups, such as ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, are associated with the increased incidence of retinal ablation.
Fluororoinolon-type antibiotics are considered to cause damage to the connective tissues in which the retina is loosed so that it becomes easily detached.
One study in Canada stated that the use of fluoroquinolone-type antibiotics increased the risk of retinal ablation up to 4.5 times. Of course, this is very worrying because retinal ablation can cause blindness when not treated immediately.
Secondly, drug fluoroquinolone is one of the most common types of medications to treat diseases such as respiratory tract infections and urinary tract.
Case studies in China find a similar conclusion, which is a doubling increase. Also, the average case of retinal ablation occurs after approximately 35 days of Fluorokuinolon use.
However, a few years later, a greater scope of study in France and the Americas was to slap the findings. Data from the study did find that there was an increased risk of retinal ablation, but not significant.
Other risk factors, such as age increase, presence of high blood pressure, eye impact, eye surgery history, and family history, are assessed more influential. Unfortunately, there is no definitive step to prevent retinal ablation. But if you've experienced it ─ and suffer from diabetes ─ you should keep your blood pressure and consultation routine with your doctor to protect your vision.
Less antibiotic use awareness
To minimize the above risks, appropriate antibiotic conditioning and appropriate indications are the primaries. But unfortunately, in Indonesia, the awareness of the community is still very lacking.
It is seen from the WHO data showing the increased use of antibiotics followed by antibiotic resistance. There are still many people who do not know about the negative effects of excessive use of antibiotics, especially when not getting the doctor's advice.
The truth of antibiotics caused by retinal ablation is still a controversy among the experts. Nevertheless, you as a regular user should be prudent when consuming antibiotics, i.e. precise dosing and precise indications. When symptoms of retinal ablation begin to be perceived or suspected, you should consult an ophthalmologist for further treatment.