I am wondering what could be going on. As a diabetic I know that Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in people ages 20 to 74. In this blog I would like to share information about eye health for Diabetics.
High blood sugar in diabetes causes the lens of the eye to swell, which changes your ability to see. To correct this kind of eye problem, you need to get your blood sugar back into the target range (70-130 milligrams per deciliter or mg/dL before meals, and less than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after a meal). It may take as long as three months after your blood sugar is well controlled for your vision to fully get back to normal. Eye Problems Explained
We as Diabetics are at the most risk for Glaucoma, Cataracts, Retinopathy. I will explain what each one of these is and why we need to care for our eyes as Diabetics.
Glaucoma is when fluid inside the eye does not drain properly. That fluid leads to excessive pressure inside of the eye. The pressure inside the eye causes nerve damage to the eyes and blood vessels. It is caused by Blood Pressure, Cholestrol, and Vascular Disease as well as High Blood Glucose. There is more than one type of Glaucoma. The most common type is open-angle Glaucoma. Usually with this type of Glaucoma there are no symptoms until it has gotten to be much worse. In the less common type of Glaucoma symptoms can include headaches, eye aches or pain, blurred vision, watering eyes, halos around lights, and loss of vision. Glaucoma Explained Treatments can vary from eye drops to laser surgery. Any changes in vision or having any unusual symptoms or pain contact your eye professional right away.
Diabetic Retinopathy is one of the vascular (blood-vessel related) complications related to diabetes. This diabetes eye problem is due to damage of small vessels and is called a "microvascular complication." Kidney disease and nerve damage due to diabetes are also microvascular complications. Large blood vessel damage (also called macrovascular complications) includes complications like heart disease and stroke. Diabetic Retinopathy Explained There are three different types of Diabetic Retinopathy Background Retinopathy, Maculopathy, Proliferative Retinopathy
Cataracts is a clouding or fogging of the normally clear lens of the eye. In Diabetics it usually happens early instead of later in life. If you have a cataract, there is a cloudy area in the lens of your eye that results in the inability to focus light, and your vision is impaired. Symptoms of this eye problem in diabetes include blurred or glared vision. The clouding is removed by surgery. Cataracts explained
Please contact your eye doctor if any of these symptoms or other unusual symptoms occur: Black Spots in your vision, Flashes of light, Holes in your vision, Blurred vision.
As a Diabetic I worry about my eye health all of the time and when changes are happening to them I know it is time for a visit to the Eye Doctor. My grandmother went blind at the age of 36. I know all to well what Diabetes can do to your vision.
There are things you can do to help improve your eye health and maintain vision, keeping your blood glucose levels at a moderate and acceptable level, excersize keep your heart and cardiovascular system healthy, lower your blood pressure and eat eye healthy foods while getting good sleep.
Click here for more links for Diabetic Eye Information
Remember as a Diabetic we all have to work as a community to keep informed and to share what we know with each other. We work together because we have a common factor living with Diabetes or caring for someone with Diabetes. Check out the healthy recipes and soon to come natural health options to help manage and care for Diabetes.
If you have a story or a question and are interested in contacting me here is the contact information: diabetic.day2013@gmail.com Looking forward to hearing from you.
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