Diabetes Can Lead to Leaky Retinal Blood Vessels, Sudden Blindness.
Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes, caused by high blood sugar levels damaging the back of the eye (retina). It can cause blindness if left undiagnosed and untreated.
It usually takes between 5 to 10 years to develop a diabetic eye disease. However, that doesn't mean that you're in the clear before then. Uncontrolled blood sugar can result in eye damage long before symptoms appear, and diabetic eye disease can result in severe sight loss or even blindness at any stage.
People with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes do have a heightened risk for eye complications and blindness. Sight loss with diabetes, however, is not inevitable.
Although many people with diabetes develop impaired vision, fewer than 5% suffer severe vision loss.
Typically, diabetic patients will develop diabetic retinopathy after they have had diabetes for between 3-5 years. In the early stages, diabetic retinopathy will not affect the sight, but if it is not treated and progresses, eventually the sight will be affected.
The four diabetic retinopathy stages are classified as mild, moderate, and severe nonproliferative and proliferative.
Damage caused by diabetic retinopathy is typically permanent. This condition isn't fully reversible, but some treatments may help bring some of your vision back. While treatments aren't likely to return your vision, your eye doctor can help prevent your vision from worsening.
Can diabetic retinopathy be reversed? No, but it doesn't have to lead to blindness, either. If you catch it early enough, you can prevent it from taking your vision. That's why it's vital to have regular visits with an Ophthalmologist or Optometrist who's familiar with diabetes and retina treatment.
Diabetic retinopathy causes scarring on the retina due to damaged blood vessels. This results in the pulling away of the retina from the back of the eye and loss of vision. It is called a traction retinal detachment and is a medical emergency.
Stage 1: Mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy
This is the earliest stage of diabetic retinopathy, characterized by tiny areas of swelling in the blood vessels of the retina. These areas of swelling are known as micro aneurysms.
While it won't undo any damage to your vision, treatment can stop your vision from getting worse. It's also important to take steps to control your diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Injections. Medicines called anti-VEGF drugs can slow down or reverse diabetic retinopathy.
How is diabetic retinopathy detected? Standard eye exams won't detect diabetic retinopathy, but a dilated eye exam by an ophthalmologist or optometrist can detect it. The NEI recommends an annual dilated exam for: Individuals who are 60 or older.
This blurred vision cannot be fixed with glasses. With further damage to the retinal blood vessels, the retina will become oxygen depleted. This results in the growth of abnormal new blood vessels, a condition known as neovascularization.
Over time, diabetes damages small blood vessels throughout the body, including the retina. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when these tiny blood vessels leak blood and other fluids. This causes the retinal tissue to swell, resulting in cloudy or blurred vision. Diabetic retinopathy usually affects both eyes.
Blurred Vision
High blood sugar levels cause swelling in the lens of the eye, temporarily causing changes in vision. The common remedy to this condition is simply getting blood sugar levels back into a target range. Before meals, this range is between 70-130 mg/dL. After meals, the target range is 180 mg/dL.
Floaters can have different shapes, such as little dots, circles, lines, clouds or cobwebs. Though these objects look like they are in front of your eye, they are actually floating inside of it.
Diabetic retinopathy is best diagnosed with a comprehensive dilated eye exam. For this exam, drops placed in your eyes widen (dilate) your pupils to allow your doctor a better view inside your eyes. The drops can cause your close vision to blur until they wear off, several hours later.
Diabetic retinopathy, if left untreated, can cause blindness. People with type 1 or type 2 diabetes face a particular risk. These eye drops could provide a more accessible way to care for the disease – and even prevent it.
If your blood sugar levels change quickly from low to normal, the shape of your eye's lens can be affected and your vision can be blurred. Your vision goes back to normal after your blood sugar stabilizes.
Metformin has also been connected to improving eyesight in patients who have diabetic retinopathy. Researchers writing in the American Journal of Translational Research in 2017 investigated the underlying mechanisms of how metformin both delayed the development and reduced the severity of diabetic retinopathy.
For diabetic retinopathy that is threatening or affecting your sight, the main treatments are: laser treatment – to treat the growth of new blood vessels at the back of the eye (retina) in cases of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and to stabilise some cases of maculopathy.