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What is Diabetic Retinopathy?

May 20, 2008 by Leila

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Do you know why diabetes is such a menace? It is because diabetes can affect many other organs in the body giving rise to complications. One such serious complication is diabetic retinopathy which affects eyes.

So if you have been diagnosed with diabetes here are few things you should do to take care of your eyes. Firstly, maintain your blood sugar levels as normal as possible. Secondly get your eyes checked by an eye care professional every year. Your vision does not have to be bad for you to get this examination done. The eye care professional will usually examine your eyes by dilating your pupils with the help of a liquid after which they can examine the back of your eyes.

In order to be in control of the situation, ask questions and tell your eye care professional to check for cataract or glaucoma specifically. Now here’s an exception to the rule, if you have gestational diabetes, you still need to see your eye care specialist every 3 months. If you have been diagnosed with diabetes and if you plan to get pregnant, seek advice from your physician, whether you need to have an eye examination done. One more golden rule, if you are diagnosed with diabetes, do not smoke!

When it comes to your eyes and diabetes, the complications can arise in four parts of the eye; namely the retina (the thin lining at the back of your eyes which sense the light entering in to your eyes), vitreous (the jelly like fluid), lens (that which focuses light on the retina) and the optic nerve (the main nerve which connects to the brain). But statistics show that retina is the most vulnerable.

So here are some tips to know if your retina has been damaged due to diabetes.

• double or blurry vision
• visions of rings, flashing lights or blank spots
• pain and/or pressure building up in one or both eyes
• dark and/or floating spots
• blurring or blank vision when trying to see things from the corner of your eyes

However, it is important to remember that these symptoms are not absolute because some people would not get any symptoms yet would suffer from retinal damage due to diabetes.