Eye Problems Associated with Diabetes: Symptoms And Treatment

There are various eye problems that occur due to diabetes. The prominent symptom is blurry vision and the last treatment resort is surgery.

Any sort of imbalance (usually immense increase) in the blood sugar level in our blood causes diabetes. Apart from affecting some major organs of our body like the heart, blood vessels, etc., diabetes can adversely affect our eyes as well. The most prominent symptom of various eye problems due to diabetes is blurry vision. In addition to that, diabetes is the primary cause of blindness in adults of ages 20 to 74.

Symptoms of eye problems associated with diabetes include:

1. The person might begin to experience blurry vision.
2. The person might face difficulty in seeing objects at night (sort of night blindness).
3. The person’s vision quality begins to change.
4. Spots or dark strings floating in the vision(floaters).
5. The person might also experience dark or empty areas in his/her vision.

Eye problems due to diabetes include blurry vision, cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy.

The problems are described in detail below:

BLURRY VISION:

One among many eye problems due to diabetes is the problem of blurry vision. Due to the high blood sugar level in the body, the body water is pulled into the eye lens and hence the eye lens swells up which changes the person’s ability to see. The person’s vision becomes blurry. This can be one temporary eye problem due to diabetes and can easily be controlled by controlling the sugar level in the blood.

Treatment: To restore the normal vision of the eye, one must try to bring the sugar level back to normal. This can take a maximum of six weeks.

CATARACT:

While cataract is one among many eye problems due to diabetes, it can also happen due to various other reasons. A cataract is a condition in which the eye lens becomes opaque. It comes along with the aging process but there are chances that people with diabetes might develop this condition at a younger age and the condition may worsen speedily.

Treatment: If the cataract doesn’t bother you much and is not very serious, you can treat it without surgery by adjusting your eyeglass prescription properly. In serious cataracts, the patient’s eye requires surgery. The doctor removes the cloudy lens from the eye and replaces it with an artificial lens. This improves the vision of the patient and also eradicates blurry vision.

GLAUCOMA:

When the eye fluid cannot drain out of the eye due to the increased blood sugar level, pressure starts to develop inside the eye. This pressure is harmful to the nerves of the eye and the blood vessels. This condition is called Glaucoma. This is one such condition among the eye problems due to diabetes which worsens very slowly and hence can be treated efficiently with proper care. There are chances of people going blind due to Glaucoma but this happens rarely.

Treatment: The basic principle behind the treatment of glaucoma is lowering the pressure inside the eye. The medication and treatment depend upon the amount of pressure developed inside the eye and that varies from person to person. Based on the amount of pressure inside the eye, treatment options include oral medication, injecting medicines into the eye, or taking prescribed oral medicines.

NEOVASCULAR GLAUCOMA:

Eye problems due to diabetes include this rare condition which might not be found in many diabetic patients but is still dangerous. New blood vessels begin to grow on the iris. These new blood vessels block the normal fluid flow and build high pressure inside the eye.

Treatment: The management of neovascular glaucoma involves both reducing elevated IOP and treating the underlying disease that led to the ischemic insult that initiated the anterior segment neovascularization.

DIABETIC RETINOPATHY:

Another hazardous name in the list of eye problems due to diabetes is- “Diabetic Retinopathy”. Diabetic retinopathy is a condition that damages blood vessels of the retina in the eye. In the initial stages, the blood vessels of the retina bulge and leak out into the macula which causes fuzzy or wavy vision. If you’re diabetic, there are appreciable chances of you developing this condition sooner or later. It is advised to lower the blood sugar level in the patient’s body in order to curb down the chances of developing this condition. If the blood sugar level continues to increase, the condition becomes worse. In place of the damaged blood vessels, new vessels begin to grow which are extremely fragile. Due to this delicacy, the eye fluid leaks out of the blood vessels.

Treatment: Diabetic retinopathy can be treated through various treatment options including Vitrectomy, injecting medicine in the eye, Photocoagulation, and Panretinal photocoagulation.

OTHER TREATMENTS:

The treatment cannot undo the damage that has already been caused to your eyes. The eye problems due to diabetes cannot be completely cured but they can be controlled to some extent with proper medical treatment and care.

Doctors usually prescribe eye drops to the patients to reduce pressure and swelling. To medically treat eye problems due to diabetes, the medical specialist might use anti-VEGF medicine, such as aflibercept, bevacizumab, or ranibizumab. All these medicines help in blocking the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the eye. They also help in preventing the eye fluids from leaking out.

The doctors first use some sort of anesthetic medicines to make the eyes numb so that the patient does not feel much pain during the process of injecting medicines. After that, the medicines are injected into his/her eyes using a needle as thick as human hair. In most of the initial stages, the doctors try to treat and cure eye problems due to diabetes with the help of medicines. The medicines are helpful in some cases whereas they aren’t in others.

The ultimate treatment for most eye problems due to diabetes is laser treatment. This treatment effectively helps in preventing complete vision loss before the retina becomes severely damaged. It creates tiny burns in the eyes because of the beam light. Laser treatment is advised soon before the blood vessels start leaking out blood.

Precautions to be taken by the patients:

1. Try to bring the blood sugar level back to normal as soon as possible. Control the amount of sugar intake in your diet.
2. Along with controlling the blood sugar level, the patient should also focus on controlling his/her blood pressure and cholesterol level.
3. Do exercise on a regular basis in order to stay fit and healthy.
4. Consult your ophthalmologist on a regular basis (at least once a year) for regular check-ups so that he can accurately keep a track of your treatment. Also, have a dilated eye exam once a year.
5. Avoid unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, etc.
6. Avoid a high trans fatty acid diet. It will damage your optic nerve and can worsen the already existing eye problems due to diabetes. Avoid baked food like cookies and cakes as well.
7. For almost all eye problems due to diabetes (especially glaucoma), avoid sleeping on one side consistently for a longer period of time, for it increases pressure on the eyeball which is obviously not good for the eye of the patient.
8. Wear sunglasses while going out in order to prevent your eyes from UV rays.

The best way to treat your eyes is to visit your eye care professional and get your eyes checked regularly. He will be able to assess the best method of treatment for your eye ailment. And you can also check our diabetes treatment program (Type 1 Diabetes Treatment, Type 2 Diabetes Treatment), online diabetologist, and diabetes clinic franchise. 

Visit our website Eyemantra.

To book an appointment call at +91-9711115191. Or mail us at [email protected].

Our other services include Retina Surgery, Specs Removal, Cataract Surgery, and many more.