Diabetic eye disease refers to a group of eye problems, all of which are worsened by inadequate blood sugar control.
If you have diabetes make sure you get a comprehensive eye exam at least once a year. Early detection and timely treatment of eye problems can prevent vision loss.
It’s essential to keep your blood sugar levels and high blood pressure under tight control. Both of these factors can make eye problems worse. Visit your eye care professional at least once a year for a dilated eye exam. Having your regular doctor look at your eyes is not enough – only ophthalmologists can detect and treat retinopathy.
If you have diabetes make sure you get a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once a year unless your doctor advises more frequent visits. You can develop diabetic retinopathy and still see fine. It’s important to remember that regardless of whether you have symptoms, early detection and timely treatment can prevent vision loss.
Controlling blood sugar levels, elevated blood pressure, and cholesterol will help your overall health as well as help protect your vision. Talk to your doctor to see if a blood sugar control program is right for you.
If you have diabetes, the good news is that with improved methods of diagnosis and treatment only a small percentage of people who develop retinopathy have serious vision problems. The best protection against diabetic retinopathy is to have regular medical eye examinations.
During the first three stages of diabetic retinopathy, generally no treatment is necessary other than regular eye exams. However, when macular edema has begun, or if diabetic retinopathy has advanced to the proliferative stage, surgical treatment is usually required. Macular edema is when the macula—the part of the retina that provides sharp central vision—swells from leaking fluid resulting in blurred vision.
Laser surgery is often helpful in treating diabetic retinopathy and can greatly reduce the chance of severe visual impairment. Macular edema is also treated with laser surgery using focal laser treatment. Focal laser treatment stabilizes vision and can reduce the risk of vision loss by 50 percent.
People with diabetic retinopathy greatly reduce the chance of becoming blind when they get timely and appropriate treatment. Although treatments have high success rates, they do not cure diabetic retinopathy. You should continue with regular exams and you may need treatment more than once to protect your sight.
Glaucoma is much more common among those with diabetes. It can be treated a number of ways including eye drops, pills, laser surgery, traditional surgery or a combination of these methods. The goal of treatment is to prevent loss of vision, since vision loss from glaucoma is irreversible.
Cataracts develop at an earlier stage for people with diabetes. When symptoms first appear, you may be able to improve your vision temporarily by using new or stronger glasses, magnification, better lighting or other visual aids. However, surgery is the only way to effectively treat a cataract.
Cataract surgery is a simple, relatively painless procedure to regain vision. Cataract surgery is tremendously successful in restoring vision for millions of Americans each year.
