Eye Surgery Procedures & Treatment
Annual Eye Exams & Diabetic Eye Disease
A yearly eye exam for diabetic changes in the eye is recommended in order to detect the treatable causes of vision loss, sometimes before the patient is even made aware of possible symptoms.
Ways in Which Diabetes Can Affect all Parts of the Eye:
Diabetic Retinopathy
- Is a complication of diabetes that results from damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye (retina). At first, diabetic retinopathy may cause no symptoms or only mild vision problems. Eventually, however, diabetic retinopathy can result in blindness.
- In the United States, diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness in adults.
- Diabetic retinopathy can happen to anyone who has diabetes, whether Type 1 (insulin-dependent) or Type 2 (usually diet- or oral-medication dependent) diabetes. In fact, up to 45 percent of adults diagnosed with diabetes in the United States have some degree of diabetic retinopathy, according to the National Eye Institute.
- Diabetic retinopathy can happen to anyone who has diabetes.
- Length of time you have had diabetes. The longer you have diabetes, the more likely you are to develop diabetic retinopathy. About 50% of diabetics who have had the disease for 15 years will show some signs of diabetic retinopathy.
- Poor control of your blood sugar. More effective control of blood sugar has been shown to decrease the progression of diabetic retinopathy.
- Hypertension, especially if your kidney function is compromised
- Pregnancy
- African or Latino origin
- Smoking
You can have diabetic retinopathy and not know it. In fact, symptoms are unusual in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy. As the condition progresses, diabetic retinopathy symptoms may include:
- Spots floating in your vision
- Blurred vision
- Dark streaks or a red film that blocks your vision
- Poor night vision
- Vision loss
Speaking With an Ophthalmologist About Diabetes and Your Vision
When you have diabetes, your body doesn’t use sugar (glucose) properly. This is due either to a lack of available insulin (as in Type 1 diabetes), or it is due to insulin resistance (as in Type 2 diabetes). There are effects of sugar molecules attaching to proteins (advanced glycosylation end products, or AGEs) that cause the tissues to malfunction. For example, the smallest blood vessels may leak or eventually close down from incorporation of AGEs in the walls of the vessels. If this happens in the retina, one might eventually develop edema, or a fluid in the tissue spaces instead of within blood vessels or cells.
Diabetic macular edema is the most common reason for vision loss in the diabetic population.
The malfunction of diabetic blood vessels leads to the common “background” retinopathy: the arterioles (little arteries) can balloon out (microaneurysms), leak blood (dot and blot hemorrhages, retinal nerve fiber layer or “flame” hemorrhages), and leak lipid.
