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Diabetes and your eyes
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How Diabetes Affects Your Eyes
Diabetes is a disease that impairs your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar. It increases your risk of developing serious vision problems including cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and double vision.
When your blood sugar is out of control, your lens swells, causing nearsightedness. For this reason, changes to prescriptions for corrective lenses are more accurate when your eye examination is done when your blood sugar is under control.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is the weakening of the blood vessels that supply the retina. It is the leading cause of vision loss in adults from 20 to 64 years of age, and afflicts approximately 90 percent of patients who have had diabetes for 15 years or longer. Juvenile diabetics are especially prone to diabetic retinopathy at an early age. The condition may be aggravated by pregnancy or high blood pressure. Fortunately, most vision loss can be prevented through regular eye examinations and early treatment.
Types of Diabetic Retinopathy
Background diabetic retinopathy or non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, an early stage of the condition, involves changes in the blood vessels within the retina. Some shrink and others grow to form balloon-like sacs that may leak or hemorrhage. In the majority of cases, sight is not seriously affected. However, background retinopathy is a warning that sight may be endangered in the future, so more frequent eye exams are required to monitor further deterioration.
Diabetic macular edema is a more serious form of
diabetic retinopathy. Fluid accumulates in the macula, the center portion of the retina, and can cause distortion or even loss of central vision.
Proliferative diabetic retinopathy is the most severe stage and the most threatening to sight. Caused by a lack of oxygen to the eye, the condition stimulates the abnormal growth of blood vessels.
These vessels are fragile and may rupture. Scar tissue from ruptured blood vessels may tighten and pull on the retina, detaching it from the inner wall. There is no pain, and partial loss of sight or even blindness may result.
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The contents and information on the Retina Health Center Web site are for your informational use only. Our site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider for any questions you may have regarding any medical condition. Never disregard, or delay seeking advice from a qualified health professional solely because of something you read on this, or any other, Web site.
