Beware of Eye Disease in People with Diabetes
Uncontrolled high blood sugar in diabetics can cause various eye diseases. If not treated early, this condition is at high risk of causing vision problems. Some of them can even cause permanent eye damage.
In the short term, high blood sugar levels can cause changes in the shape of the lens of the eye. This can make vision blurry.
If not treated for a long time, blood sugar will damage the blood vessels and nerves in the retina, causing blindness. Therefore, besides getting regular treatment, diabetics are strongly advised to visit an eye doctor regularly.
Various Eye Diseases in People with Diabetes
Here are some eye diseases that are commonly experienced by diabetics.
1. Blurred vision
High blood sugar levels make the lens of the eye swell to interfere with the ability of the eye to see. To fix this, blood sugar must return to the normal range, which is between 70 mg / dL to 130 mg / dL before meals, and less than 180 mg / dL for one or two hours after meals.
If you have diabetes and have complaints of vision problems or blurred vision, immediately go to the eye doctor. This could be a symptom of eye disease due to diabetes complications.
2. Cataracts
Everyone is at risk of developing cataracts, but diabetics tend to experience it early and can get worse quickly.
Cataracts make the eyepiece look cloudy as if it were covered in white mist. Eye disease in diabetics can be treated with surgery, which is to replace damaged eye lenses with artificial eye lenses.
3. Glaucoma
Eye disease that can also arise due to complications of diabetes is glaucoma. Glaucoma occurs when fluid in the eye cannot flow properly, resulting in buildup, and increasing pressure in the eyeball.
As a result the nerves and blood vessels in the eye can be damaged due to pressure from the fluid, and cause vision problems.
Uncontrolled diabetes is also at risk of causing sufferers to experience new blood vessel formation in the iris (the colored part of the eye). As a result, eye fluid will increase, and increase pressure in the eye.
4. Diabetic retinopathy
To be able to see well, the retina of the eye requires an adequate supply of blood. In people with diabetes, high blood sugar levels over time can damage these blood vessels and cause eye retinal disorders. This condition can lead to blindness if treated late.
Diabetic retinopathy usually takes several years to threaten visual function. The longer a person has diabetes, the more likely it is to develop eye disease, especially if the blood sugar level is not controlled by medication.
For diabetics, do not forget to regularly seek treatment and control to the doctor on schedule. To maintain eye health, diabetics need to routinely conduct eye examinations to ophthalmologists every 1 to 2 years. Women who are planning to become pregnant or are pregnant and have a history of diabetes also need to undergo an eye examination.
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, immediately see an ophthalmologist if the vision is suddenly blurry, there seems to be a “hole”, it seems there is light, glare, or there are black spots. The earlier the examination is done, the faster the eye disease in diabetics can be treated.
Sinak Gondok 