Diabetic Eye Care
Diabetes affects over 14 million Americans. More than 8,000 Americans will become blind from diabetic retinopathy. Visual loss is a late symptom of diabetic retinopathy. There’s a lot you can do to take charge and prevent such problems. A recent study shows that keeping your blood glucose closer to normal can prevent or delay diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic Eye Disease
Diabetic eye disease refers to a group of eye problems that people with diabetes may face as a complication of this disease. All can cause severe vision loss or even blindness.
Diabetic eye disease may include:
Diabetic Retinopathy – damage to the blood vessels in the retina.
Cataract – Clouding of the eye’s lens.
Glaucoma – increase in fluid pressure inside the eye that leads to optic nerve damage and vision loss.
Cataract and Glaucoma also affect many people who do not have diabetes.
What is the most common diabetic eye disease?
Diabetic retinopathy. This disease is a leading cause of blindness in American adults. It is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina. In some people with diabetic retinopathy, retinal blood vessels may swell and leak fluid. In other people, abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina. These changes may result in vision loss or blindness.
Who is most likely to get diabetic retinopathy?
Anyone with diabetes. The longer someone has diabetes, the more likely he or she will get diabetic retinopathy. Nearly half of all people with diabetes will develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy during their lifetime.
What are its symptoms?
Often there are none in the early stages of the disease. Vision may not change until the disease becomes severe. Nor is there any pain.
SIGNS OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY
If you are having trouble reading, distortion of vision, especially with blood-sugar elevation, difficulty with night vision, dark spots and floaters are consistent with diabetic retinopathy. In the earliest stages, diabetic retinopathy is indicated by increased retinal vascular permeability, which can lead to fluid accumulation in the retina. In the more advanced stages, new vessel proliferation, vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment and neovascular glaucoma may develop. The most common cause of vision impairment from diabetes is macular edema. It can occur at any stage of retinopathy. Development of edematous thickening of the macula disturbs the retina and leads to blurred vision. When macular edema involves the center of the macula there is a chance of moderate vision loss in three years without laser surgery. Focal laser treatment reduces the risk by more than 50%.
TREATING DIABETIC RETINOPATHY
Early laser treatment can help save your eyesight. Laser surgery is generally recommended for those with high-risk proliferative retinopathy with or without vitreous or pre-retinal hemorrhage. Treatment of neovascularization with high-risk characteristics is by scatter photocoagulation, in which laser burns are applied in the mid-peripheral and peripheral areas of the retina, sparing the macula. Most patients respond well to photocoagulation surgery when it is performed at the proper time. If proliferative retinopathy is not detected until after a vitreous hemorrhage has developed, an operation called vitrectomy may be necessary.
PROTECTING YOUR SIGHT
Diabetic retinopathy may be developing even when your sight is good, dilated eye exams are important for diagnosing problems early. For diabetics over age 30, annual eye exams starting at the time of diagnosis are necessary. This is because the condition has generally been present longer by the time of diagnosis. Because retinopathy is progressive, patients with diabetes require careful monitoring by an ophthalmologist with more frequent examinations as the condition of the eye deteriorates. Patients with onset of new symptoms should contact their ophthalmologist immediately.
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