Diabetes is a serious, chronic illness that effects more than a person’s sugar level. According to the Friends for Sight, “Diabetes can lead to a wide variety health complications, including heart disease, nerve damage, stroke, kidney disease, and vision loss. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among working-age Americans.” Taking care of yourself & seeing your doctors on a regular basis when you have diabetes is the best possible way to prevent these complications. So how does diabetes effect your eyes and your vision? Diabetic eye disease includes the following:
- Diabetic Retinopathy: potentially blinding condition which the blood vessels inside the retina become damaged from the high blood sugar levels associated with diabetes. This leads to fluids leaking into the retina and obstructing blood flow. Both may cause severe vision loss.
- Diabetic Macular Edema: this condition is caused by Diabetic Retinopathy; it is the swelling of the macula area of the retina. This is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetic retinopathy.
- Cataracts: People with diabetes are more susceptible to developing cataracts at a younger age and are 2-5 times more likely to develop cataracts.
- Glaucoma: The risk for developing glaucoma nearly doubles if you have diabetes.
If you are diabetic, scheduling regular eye exams is one way to prevent or to treat an eye disease as it is just developing. There are treatments available that can help postpone or prevent blindness or further damage to your eyes and eyesight. Diabetes is a disease that needs medical management and regular doctor visits to help prevent further medical issues. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call our office at 609.652.1010 or click this link: https://wisefamilyeye.com/contact/
