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From
ChangeOneDiet.com
Having diabetes puts you at risk for vision
problems down the road. The good news, however, is that most eye problems can be
treated if caught early -- and it may be possible to see your way clear of them
altogether.
Your eyes are nourished by small blood vessels
that can be easily damaged when you have diabetes. Left alone, the damage can
lead to vision loss, and diabetes remains the leading cause of blindness in
adults. But the good news, according to the experts at
ChangeOneDiet.com, is that most eye problems can be treated if caught
early - and it may be possible to see your way clear of them altogether.
Most eye damage from diabetes takes place in
the retina, the light-sensitive area at the back of the eye that registers
visual signals and sends them to the brain through the optic nerve. High blood
sugar (especially when combined with high blood pressure) can weaken small blood
vessels that supply the eyes with oxygen and nutrients, causing them to puff up
and rupture like balloons -- a condition known as nonproliferative retinopathy.
In some cases, according to
ChangeOneDiet.com, leakage and lack of nourishment can directly damage the retina
and make your vision blurry, but you may not notice anything at all.
If the damage progresses, you can develop a
more severe condition called proliferative retinopathy, in which more blood
vessels start to sprout in the retina to make up for blood delivery lost through
burst vessels. This only compounds the problem by leading to more ruptures.
These can block light to the retina and cause hemorrhages and pressure inside
the eyes, which contributes to scar tissue that can eventually cause the retina
to start tearing away from the eye. Retinopathy can also cause macular edema. In
this condition, the central area of the retina (called the macula), which allows
you to see sharp detail and color, swells, causing loss of fine vision.
How to Stay a Visionary
The key to keeping your sight is to keep your
eyes peeled for symptoms that point to a problem.
ChangeOneDiet.com says to be alert to changes. It's easy to dismiss
subtle changes in your vision as minor annoyances, but when you have diabetes,
you can't assume you need a new eyeglass prescription or that your eyes are just
getting "old." Granted, those may be possibilities -- and high or low
fluctuations in blood sugar can temporarily affect your vision as well. But you
should still call your primary-care physician or an ophthalmologist right away
if:
* Your eyesight seems blurry.
* You experience double vision.
* Your vision becomes distorted or straight lines, such as
telephone poles, look warped.
* Spots or lines seem to float in front of your eyes.
* Your field of vision seems narrower.
* You have more difficulty seeing clearly in dim light.
* It seems as though a window shade has been drawn over your
field of vision.
* You feel pressure or pain in your eyes.
* You have trouble perceiving colors, especially blue and
yellow, or making distinctions between similar colors.
Keep regular watch. You may not be able
to see or feel the earliest signs of retinopathy, but a doctor can easily pick
them up during an eye exam, so it's important to schedule regular vision checks.
Don't settle for the eye chart on the wall: Go to an ophthalmologist, who will
give you a comprehensive exam that includes dilating your pupils to look
directly at the retina, according to
ChangeOneDiet.com. The American Diabetes Association recommends that people
with type 1 diabetes get an eye exam within three to five years of the onset of
diabetes and that people with type 2 diabetes have an exam immediately after
diagnosis. After that, everyone with diabetes should have their eyes checked
once a year.
Get help for hypertension. Easing your
blood pressure can reduce your risk of retinopathy or slow its progression. Ask
your doctor if, in addition to changing your diet, getting more exercise, and
not smoking, you should take medication.
Evaluate your exercise. Once you learn
you have retinopathy, check in with your doctor to take another look at your
exercise program. Certain forms of exercise can be jarring to the delicate
structures within the eye or may increase the amount of pressure in the eye and
thus lead to more retinal bleeding, says
ChangeOneDiet.com.
Consider surgery. The best way to
prevent further damage from retinopathy may be to fix the harm that's already
been done. Using a type of laser surgery called photocoagulation, an
ophthalmologist aims a thin beam of laser light at the retina to destroy
ruptured blood vessels, seal areas that are leaking, and prevent new vessels
from forming. In some cases, laser surgery can slow the rate of vision loss by
90 percent or more.
Another form of surgery, called cryotherapy,
destroys abnormal blood vessels by freezing them with a probe -- a technique
that's especially useful in areas a laser can't reach or for people who still
have proliferative retinopathy after laser surgery. In a third operation, called
a vitrectomy, the eye's jellylike core (the vitreous humor) is taken out so that
doctors can remove scar tissue from inside the eye and repair the retina if it
has started to detach.
For more diabetes tips and mouth-watering
recipes and meals, visit
ChangeOneDiet.com
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