*3.2.2. Diabetic retinopathy*

*Diabetic retinopathy* (DR) is an inflammatory disease of the retina. It arises as a result of the total affection of blood vessels in diabetes mellitus. Wrongly diagnosed diabetes affects small catheters that clog in the eyes, causing blood circulation to slow. The second way the retina is affected is that the vessels "leak" and the fluid escapes and causes the retina to swell. Insufficient blood circulation and swelling of the retina destroy vision. The eye tries to remedy the situation by growing new blood vessels (*neovascularization*), but they are poor and harmful, they crack, they can bleed in the eye (*hemophthalmos*), and they can cause traction detachment of the retina. Diabetic retinopathy has two forms: *non-proliferative* and *proliferative* [15] (**Figure 15**).

#### *3.2.3. Toxoplasmosis*

*Toxoplasmosis* is a disease that ranks among *zoonoses*, which is transmissible from animals to humans. It occurs all over the world. In European countries, anti-toxoplasmosis antibodies are produced by 10–60% of the population depending on dietary habits. In the Czech Republic, *seropositivity* (the presence of antibodies in the blood) is around 20–40%. Diseases are most often manifested by elevated temperatures, flu-like conditions, headaches, fatigue, or swollen lymph nodes. An acute infection may sometimes go into a chronic stage, but the infection is often unnoticed and is only recognized by the finding of specific anti-toxoplasmic antibodies in the blood, which may persist in low levels throughout their lives (the latent form

**Figure 15.** Non-proliferative (left) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

of infection). There are many forms of illness—nodal, ocular (see **Figure 16**), cerebral, gynecological. The other forms of toxoplasmosis are uncommon [16].
