Diabetes eye diseases and prevention

Diabetes can affect many parts of your body. The eyes get affected by both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common diabetic eye diseases for diabetic patients. Glaucoma and cataracts are common diabetic eye problems.

Diabetic Retinopathy:

The retina is a part of the eye that is placed behind the lens, which provides the image. Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the small blood vessels present in the retina.

Usually when there is high blood sugar the excess sugar in the blood will make the tiny blood vessels hard and damaged.

If you are having Type 1 diabetes, then you will rarely experience the condition before hitting puberty. If you are an adult, then proper managing of diabetes will be effective for the prevention of retinopathy. There are three types of retinopathy.

Non-proliferative retinopathy

Proliferative retinopathy

Macular edema

Symptoms:

Symptoms of retinopathy normally include

• Blurred vision
• Vision loss
• Impaired color vision

Treatment often includes scatter photocoagulation, focal photocoagulation, and vitrectomy. Earlier diagnosis will direct to easy and efficient treatment.

Glaucoma:

Diabetes patients are high at risk of getting glaucoma than nondiabetic peoples. The risk of getting glaucoma for diabetes patients increases according to age.

When the pressure in the eye increases, it may cause damage in the blood vessels which supply blood to the retina thus resulting in the loss of vision gradually.

Symptoms :

Symptoms mostly include

• Blurred vision
• Watery eyes
• Headaches
• Eye pain

Treatments may use drugs, and sometimes surgery will be needed to effective treatment of glaucoma.

Cataracts:

The lens present in the eye will allow you to see the image like a camera. In cataracts, the lens will get cloudy leading to cataracts. People with diabetes tend to have cataracts at a very young age.

Normally the treatment will be the removal of the damaged lens and replacing it with an artificial lens. In diabetes patients, a replacement will lead to more risk of Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

Prevention:

Diabetes is not curable, but it can be effectively managed with a healthier lifestyle. The same goes for the prevention of eye diseases due to diabetes. By proper control of blood sugar levels and early diagnosis will be more helpful in avoiding severe vision loss. Important things to be noted for prevention include,

• Proper maintenance of blood sugar level
• Having control of blood pressure
• Checking for early signs and symptoms
• Having regular eye check-ups.

Originally published at https://diabetes.cankado.com on August 23, 2020.