Many parts of the body including the eyes are affected due to diabetes. Those suffering from diabetes, or have an elevated risk of diabetes, should seek regular dilated eye examinations. This should be done without fail even though there is no problem with the vision.
What are Diabetic Eye Diseases?
It is necessary to keep a tab on the eye problems which crop up due to diabetes. The eye diseases that occur due to diabetes are cataract (a condition which leads to clouding of the eye’s lens), glaucoma (a condition where there is increase of fluid pressure inside the eye which leads to optic nerve damage and loss of vision), and diabetic retinopathy (the most common diabetic eye disease).
Diabetic retinopathy – the most common diabetic eye disease
Diabetic retinopathy causes great damage to the tiny blood vessels in the retina, a light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye. Symptoms of this disease include blurred vision. Retinopathy is a silent condition which slowly yet steadily leads to blindness – symptoms may not appear until the disease becomes more severe but the damage is still occurring in the eyes. Current estimates for retinopathy are that it blinds as many as 25,000 people with diabetes each year. If detected early through an eye exam people can save their vision by about 90 percent when compared to those with undetected retinopathy who otherwise become blind from the disease.
How to avoid this Condition ?
It is therefore very essential that a diabetic go for regular eye check ups. A dilated Eye Exam once a year helps detect early signs of diabetic eye disease. This is a special eye exam which helps find out if there are any diseases in the eye including diabetic retinopathy, cataract, and glaucoma. During this exam the doctor uses special eye drops to temporarily enlarge your pupils. This enables the doctor to see the back of your eyes and detect any diabetic eye disease.
This checkup should be undergone by a diabetic regularly even though he/she is not experiencing problems with their vision. This way you can avoid experiencing diabetic eye diseases.
