Blindness from diabetes: When there is too much sugar in the blood, it leads to hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar. This happens when your body can’t absorb insulin properly, or when your system doesn’t have enough insulin (insulin is the hormone that moves glucose into the blood).
Blood sugar levels must be kept as close to normal as possible to treat diabetes. But no matter how careful you are, if you have diabetes, hyperglycemia will eventually develop. You have hyperglycemia if you have diabetes and your fasting blood sugar is above 125 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter).
Zee News digital spoke to Dr. Priyanka Singh (MBBS, MS, DNB, FAICO), Consultant & Eye Surgeon, Neytra Eye Centre, New Delhi on the impact of high blood sugar on vision and eye health. Here we have shared some insightful information about diabetes and how it affects vision.
What is diabetic retinopathy?
Diabetes is a serious condition that significantly affects multiple organs, including the eyes, causing organ failure. It’s a complication that occurs when blood sugar levels get out of control and is also known as diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic retinopathy, a condition caused by uncontrolled long-term diabetes, including type I, type II, and gestational diabetes, can seriously impair vision and cause retinal damage.
What causes diabetic retinopathy?
High blood sugar microscopically damages the walls of the retina’s tiny blood vessels, causing them to swell and leak. Occasionally there is macular edema, which affects vision.
Diabetic retinopathy, also known as nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, is currently in its early stage (NPDR). Most people are completely asymptomatic during this time. In later stages of blood vessel leakage, retinal hemorrhage and new blood vessel development follow. This ultimately leads to scarring and detachment of the retina. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), also known as this advanced stage, results in severe retinal damage.
How does diabetic retinopathy spread or progress?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists macular edema, cataracts, and glaucoma as eye conditions that can affect people with diabetes. All of these conditions can lead to vision loss, but early detection and treatment can greatly improve your chances of keeping your vision.
Different stages of diabetic retinopathy
– Early time: The walls of the blood vessels in the retina weaken and begin to swell, creating tiny sacs that allow blood and other fluids to leak, affecting vision. This condition is also referred to as non-proliferative.
– Advanced: It is the proliferation stage where the retina begins to create new blood vessels that are fragile and bleed easily and become irritated, creating black spots that float in your field of vision. If the bleeding becomes uncontrolled, your vision may be completely blocked.
How can early detection of diabetic retinopathy contribute to vision loss?
Early detection and good follow-up care can restore full vision at this stage. As the disease progresses to the proliferative stage, a range of treatments such as laser, injection, and often vitrectomy (eye surgery) may be needed to restore vision. It will not reverse without proper treatment, and any neglect at this stage will result in permanent vision loss.
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Signs and symptoms of diabetic retinopathy
Most early cases are asymptomatic. Diabetic retinopathy can be detected in good time through regular eye and retinal examinations at least once a year.
Immediate control is required when:
– Sudden changes in vision
– Have a distorted vision
– Presence of sudden swimmers
– High blood sugar
– Excessive fluctuations in blood sugar
Can diabetic retinopathy be reversed?
Good blood sugar control can stop the progression of retinopathy. The early cases of NPDR can be reversed on their own. Cases of macular edema require medication, often in the form of injections, to reduce swelling and stop it from progressing.
The main elements that increase the risk of the disease are psychological stress and diet. These elements can worsen the texture of the vessels and increase permeability. Therefore, experts say that prevention and a healthy lifestyle are the best ways to treat, or possibly even reverse, diabetic retinopathy.
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Treatment of diabetic retinopathy
There is no cure for this condition, but treatments often work well to prevent, delay, or reduce the progression of vision loss or potential blindness. However, the earlier the condition is detected, the more likely it is that you will receive helpful treatment. Preventive treatments include:
– Laser treatment (photocoagulation): performed before the retina has been severely damaged.
– Anti-VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) or an anti-inflammatory drug: Injections of these types of drugs can help shrink new blood vessels.
– Surgical removal of the vitreous gel (vitrectomy): Can help improve vision if the retina is not severely damaged.
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