Diabetes and Protecting your Eye Health
Most diabetic patients understand that the disease can put their vision at risk. That’s because, over time, high blood sugar can damage retinal blood vessels, causing a variety of diseases and complications. That’s why it’s vitally important for diabetics to have regular eye exams so that treatment to stabilize vision can begin early when there is the best chance of providing long-term help. Call for your appointment today: (855) 515-2020.
Regular eye exams can help diabetics begin treatments for such problems as:
Macular Edema
A common cause of central vision loss, it causes swelling in the central retina.
When identified by your doctor, diabetic macular edema (DME) can be treated
Laser therapy can be used to decrease retina swelling and reduce the risk of future vision loss. Other treatment options include:
- Eye injections
- Steroids
- Surgical treatment
DME is the main cause of vision loss associated with diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetics should be aware of non-proliferative and proliferative retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy causes damage to the light-sensitive retina at the back of the eye.
Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) can cause
- Retinal hemorrhages
- “Cotton wool” spots from poor blood flow
Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) can cause
- Damage to the retinal blood vessels
This leads to a secretion that causes abnormal blood vessel growth and can threaten vision.
- Neovascular glaucoma
This occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow and can lead to elevated eye pressure, pain, redness and vision loss.
Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy can be managed
Managing your diabetes is always the first step toward preserving vision. Regular eye examinations are also crucial because they can detect changes caused by diabetic retinopathy that may not be noticed by patients.
Proliferative diabetic retinopathy can be treated
Laser treatment is one of the most effective procedures for retinopathy and has saved the vision of millions of patients. An alternate treatment is:
- Injections
These can be beneficial for many patients when it to comes to managing the effects of PDR, particularly for those with problems that put them in the category of high risk for developing the disease.