In this article we look at how diabetes affects the eye and what measure a diabetic can take to prevent diabetic retinopathy & other diabetes related eye problems.
So, let me begin by asking you a question. Do you know the number one cause of blindness in adults all over the world? And the answer for that is diabetes.
So let us look into how this happens, how diabetes actually effect your eyes. If there is anything you can do to prevent this complication from happening. So when we talk about diabetes we know it’s a medical condition where the blood sugar is consistently high or above normal. This blood is continuously splitting all over your body and over a period of time it starts effecting your organs. Basically, it can damage the blood vessels of your heart, it can damage the blood vessels of the kidney, can damage the blood vessels of brain and it can damage the blood vessels of the eye.
How does Diabetes affect the eye?
So what happens in the eye? So in the eye we have retina. Retina is the major part of the eye. Retina has the vast abundant vascular supply. Now in retina what happens is that this small blood vessels, they start getting blocked by the blood sugars. When these blood vessels start getting blocked: two things happen.
- First is that it starts leaking fluids and this fluid starts getting accumulated in the retina. When it gets accumulated in the macula which is the important part of retina where the main vision is developed you get a condition which is called macular Edina. So the macula starts get swelling up and the image then starts getting blurred and visual disturbance can happen. This used to be treated immediately before any permanent damage happens.
- Second thing that happen because of this is that some new blood vessels starts forming in the retina and the new blood vessels that form are very unstable and can start leaking of fluid or blood which can cause bleeding in the eye. This is very harmful and cause visual disturbance.
So these are the two major changes which happens and basically it is called diabetic retinopathy and this is divided into various stages. Initial stage of diabetic retinopathy is known as non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. As the condition worsens, we get proliferative retinopathy. In the earlier stage you may not see any symptoms so you may ignore this problem. So it is very crucial to identify this case in early stage.
How to detect diabetic retinopathy or of eye damage due to diabetes early on?
So how can we diagnose diabetic retinopathy in the early stage. We can diagnose diabetic retinopathy by getting eyes checked by diabetologist or an eye surgeon. The diabetologist or eye specialist look into the eye or precisely retina for any changes that might happen in the retina. Consequently, they can detect these changes early.
Diabetic Retinopathy can happen in all forms of diabetic patients. It can happen in Type 1 diabetic patients. It can happen in Type 2 diabetic patients. It can also happen in pregnant woman having diabetes. By getting the test you can detect this early. So every diabetic patient should get their eye examined at least once in a year and then depending on the condition the eye specialist can recommend you other earlier check ups. So it is very crucial that you detect them early. Start early treat early.
Treatment for diabetic retinopathy or eye damage due to diabetes?
So there are various treatments available for this condition that happens in diabetic patients.
- There are injections that can make swelling go down
- There is laser treatment available
- Surgeries which is done when pulling or stretching the retina happens.
So the other thing that can happen in diabetic patient is cataract. The lens becomes cloudy and the other is glaucoma which can happen in diabetic patient. In general we know that the diabetes can barely effect your eyes so we need to be careful,we should be alert. We should be testing ourselves to prevent this complication. The best part is that this complication can be settled down if we detect this early.
Other eye conditions that can occur in Diabetic patients?
So coming to the end I would say the roots of all this is diabetes. So we need to keep your blood sugar under controlled. We can keep our blood sugars in control by following healthy diet and being in touch with your diabetologist. So by doing this we can prevent the complication of diabetes on the eye. So with this I will end I would say is stay healthy live healthy.