3 Essential Things You Should Know about Diabetic Eye Treatment
Diabetic retinopathy is the major cause of vision loss for diabetic people. But diabetes can also lead to other eye complications like cataracts and open-angle glaucoma. People suffering from diabetic retinopathy are at risk of developing other eye conditions like neovascular glaucoma, diabetic macular edema, and retinal detachment.
This article will discuss essential things you need to know about diabetic retinopathy.
How Diabetic Retinopathy Occurs
If you have diabetes, you are at risk of diabetic retinopathy. The probability of developing this condition increases if you have struggled with diabetes for a long time. High blood sugar due to diabetes can damage your retina. The retina detects light and transmits messages to your brain via the optic nerve at the back of the eye.
Usually, the damage in the eye begins when excessive sugar damages blood vessels that nourish the retina. As a result, the blood vessels will start to bleed and block the retina, preventing the proper passage of light signals. Then, your eye will grow new blood vessels that can't function correctly and are prone to further bleeding.
Symptoms and Risk Factors of Diabetic Retinopathy
Some symptoms you will notice at the onset of the disease are dark or empty spots in your vision, blurred or fluctuating vision, and partial or complete vision loss. If you don't manage diabetes properly, you are at greater risk of this complication.
Also, having high blood pressure and cholesterol levels will worsen your chances. Other factors you should watch for include pregnancy, and smoking tobacco.
Prevention Tips
You need to know what makes sugar levels spike or drop and how to curb these factors. First, ensure you practice healthy eating by being careful about the type of food you eat, how much you eat, and the combinations of food you take.
Your eye doctor can help you learn about carbohydrate counting and portion sizes, balance every meal, and coordinate your meals and medications. You will also have to discipline yourself and avoid sugar-sweetened beverages.
You should talk to your health professional to recommend an exercise program that suits you. When you run or jog, your muscles use glucose for energy, regulating your sugar levels. Also, physical activity promotes efficient insulin utilization.
Other helpful diabetes management tips include taking medication to lower blood sugar, treating other illnesses promptly to avoid stressing the body, and reducing alcohol intake as it overworks the liver. Also, you should learn to manage your stress better as it produces hormones that raise sugar levels.
To learn more about diabetic retinopathy and how to treat it, contact an optometrist in your area today.