Millions of people worldwide have diabetes, and it’s a constantly rising statistic. The inability to regulate blood sugar has consequences that affect the entire body, even your eyes.
Diabetic retinopathy is a severe symptom of diabetes that, if left untreated, can lead to permanent loss of vision. Keep reading to learn more about diabetic retinopathy and how it can affect your eyes!
Why Does Diabetes Affect My Eyes?
Sugar in the blood due to diabetes can start to block small blood vessels in your body. This includes the blood vessels in your eyes, which are necessary for delivering nutrients to the retina.
Over time, this blockage cuts off the supply of blood. Since your retina still needs the blood to survive, your body attempts to get around the issue by forming entirely new blood vessels.
The new blood vessels that your body forms are fragile and improperly formed. They leak very easily, and as a result, damage your vision.
The Stages of Diabetic Retinopathy
There are two stages of diabetic retinopathy. The first stage is nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). The second stage is proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).
Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
During the early stages of the disease, new blood vessels aren’t yet proliferating or forming, which is why it is called nonproliferative. However, the sugar in the blood still weakens the walls of the blood vessels in the eye, causing bulges to form as the blood backs up and leaks into the surrounding area.
On the other hand, larger retinal blood vessels can dilate and become irregularly shaped and distorted. As NPDR worsens and becomes more severe, fluid can build up behind the retina’s center, causing a new condition called macular edema. Left untreated, this can lead to permanent vision loss.
Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
Once the new vessels begin to form, the advanced form of diabetic retinopathy begins to emerge. New vessels form and quickly succumb to their fragile nature, creating a buildup of scar tissue in addition to the leaking fluid.
The buildup of scar tissue behind the retina can physically lift the retina off of the back wall of your eye, leading to a retinal detachment. If fluid continues to leak into the center of your eye, pressure can increase and result in glaucoma.
Treatment Options
As with most medical treatments, prevention is the best solution to stop the damage with diabetic retinopathy. Prioritize controlling your diabetes by monitoring your blood sugar levels, eating a healthy diet, and getting regular exercise.
Smoking also increases your risk of diabetic retinopathy. Getting your blood sugar under control can reverse the process of diabetic retinopathy in its early stages.
Of course, prevention is not as easy as it sounds, and you’ll need to get diabetic retinopathy treated to save your vision if it has progressed to its advanced stage. You can treat proliferative diabetic retinopathy by injecting medication directly into the eye.
These injections help stop the growth of new blood vessels through a laser treatment that closes off new blood vessels by forcing them to coagulate or with a vitrectomy.
Are you concerned about keeping your vision in good health if you have diabetes? Schedule an appointment at Stahl Eyecare Experts in Manhattan, NY, today!
