Diabetes is a fairly common disease that roughly 10% of the public deals with in their daily lives. Whether you’re born with a childhood type of diabetes or it’s a disease you are afflicted with later in life, it’s important to know the symptoms and other ways the disease can affect your health. Blindness and diabetes can unfortunately go hand in hand – this is why it’s incredibly important to be vigilant and take potential symptoms seriously. In our blog today, we discuss how diabetes can affect your eyes.
Blindness and Diabetes – How Does Diabetes Affect Your Eyes?
The changes our bodies make when we’re handling any stage of diabetes can be unpredictable and hard to process. If diabetes is new to you or someone you know, it can be scary to process all the changes that may be taking place. While the things you should be aware of are numerous, one big change to pay attention to can be the health of your eyes and the quality of your vision. It may be surprising but diabetic retinopathy or diabetes related loss of vision may be a sudden onset health issue. There is typically not much warning, so it’s very important to be aware of sudden changes in eyesight if you have diabetes.
Below are some things to look out for when it comes to your vision if you have been diagnosed with diabetes:
- Dark floating spots or streaks in your line of vision – In later stages of the diagnoses, blood vessels may rupture or leak into the vitreous centre of the eye. If left untreated, this bleeding can cause scarring or become worse with time.
- DME – DME, or Diabetic Macular Edema, is when the blood vessels of the retina leak fluid which causes swelling in the macular part of the eye. This can cause blurry vision in patients who are experiencing this issue.
- Neovascular glaucoma – Another unfortunate issue that can be caused by diabetic retinopathy can be a condition where the blood vessels actually grow out of the retina and cause proper drainage of fluids from the retina.
- Retinal detachment – In very severe cases, if other ailments are left untreated, scar tissue and trauma can cause the retina to separate from the eye.
Can Diabetes Cause Blindness – Who is at Risk?
Aside from other serious symptoms, your vision health can be severely impacted by diabetes. It doesn’t matter what stage of the disease you’re living with, the effects can impact your vision in a negative and permanent way. If a person’s blood sugar is allowed to elevate to an uncontrollable and dangerous level, it can impact blood vessels and cause damage that may be irreversible to your eyes structure and anatomy.
If you or someone you know feel as though you may be suffering from any stage of diabetic retinopathy, please get in touch with us at Yonge & College Optometry. In the early stages, correction and treatment may be possible. Aside from the obvious ocular symptoms, it is also important to seek assistance from a doctor to get any diabetic problems under control as they can affect many aspects of your overall health. Being vigilant and proactive can help save your body from the negative effects of diabetes, it just takes staying on top of it! Call us today on (647) 748-3937, or click here to request an appointment online.
