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Diabetes and Your Eyesight – A Guide to Help You

diabetes-visionDiabetes is one of America’s leading causes of eye disease and blindness, especially in those who have had diabetes for some years and are older. There are several eye problems that can result from diabetes, including diabetic retinopathy (DR), cataracts, glaucoma, and macular edema.

But if you have diabetes (either type 1 or type 2) or are diagnosed as pre-diabetic, instead of complicated terminology, sometimes you need simple, helpful, and even hopeful information. So, here is the good news:

  1. This simple guide can be your helpful reference and information link about diabetes and your eyesight.
  2. With proper care, attention, and a diabetic support program to manage your blood sugar, you can avoid severe vision loss or blindness.

Early Detection is Key

Detecting diabetes before it has a chance to progress is crucial in managing the disease.

Blurred vision can often be the first warning sign of diabetes, either type 1 or type 2. That blurred vision can be caused by excessively high blood sugar. Sudden blurriness needs to be examined by your doctor and also an eye specialist. Think of your ophthalmologist as your frontline defense against diabetes and for your eyesight. If you notice any negative changes in your vision, make an appointment immediately. That includes experiencing blurred or double vision and feeling pain or pressure in your eyes.

Diabetics Must Have Regular Eye Tests

If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you simply must schedule eye tests regularly, like every six months. Furthermore, if anything in your vision changes, get tested again. Your eyes are a window to your diabetes as well as your soul.

What About Eye Floaters?

‘Floaters’ are little spots that float around in your vision as you move your eyes. They are very common. There are some misconceptions and misinformation – pardon the pun – floating around about them.

Floaters in a non-diabetic person are not dangerous and not an indication of any problem.

But for someone with diabetes, any change to eye floaters should be checked by an ophthalmologist. Worsening floaters could potentially be a sign of diabetic eye disease or, in severe cases, bleeding in the eye. Only an expert can be sure.

Serious Diabetic Eye Disease

  • Diabetic retinopathy (DR) means the retina has been damaged and is a serious threat to eyesight. It is the leading cause of diabetic vision loss, even in working age people.
  • Diabetic macula edema is a consequence of DR. The macula area of the retina swells and the prolonged pressure distorts the eye, causing degeneration and blindness.
  • Cataracts are clouded growths over of the lens of the eye. They are two to five times more likely in diabetic adults.
  • Glaucoma is a disease that places high pressure inside the eye and on the optic nerve. Diabetic adults have double the risk of developing glaucoma.

The Hope: A Diabetic Program for Healthy Blood Sugar and Eyesight

The good news is that stabilizing your blood sugar at a healthy level can help blurred or distorted vision return to normal. Preventing glucose from spiking in your blood and blood vessels will ease stress on the lens, retina and macula.

The even better news is that it is not has hard as you think to manage nutrition for your diabetes and eyesight. Save yourself a years-long learning curve and take advantage of the extensively researched expertise behind a diabetic life support program to manage your meal plans. Such a program will show you how to maintain your blood sugar through a nutritious and delicious diet and supplements that are low in sugar, high in antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory.

More Things You Can Do

There are other helpful things you can do to manage your diabetes and its effects on your eyesight:

  • Get daily aerobic exercise.
  • Regularly monitor your blood sugar numbers.
  • Take any medicine you’re prescribed. Take it as instructed by your physician.
  • Use anti-inflammatory nutritional supplements specially created to support diabetic conditions. (Regular supplements will not help.)
  • No smoking. Diabetes and eye disease become much greater concerns if you smoke, because it weakens the immune system while increasing cravings and blood pressure.
  • Eliminate alcohol.
  • Look after your blood pressure, particularly by doing all the things above. High blood pressure increases the risk of diabetic eye disease.

So, while diabetes presents a significant threat to your eyesight, be encouraged that you can take control and prevent those threats from causing damage. Be vigilant, take any eyesight changes seriously, and look after yourself by following a diabetic support program that will take the guesswork out of your approach to managing your disease. Your eyes will thank you.

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Diabetic Manual and a clickable link back to this page.

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