Don't lose sight of diabetic eye disease
Information for people with diabetes
1
What is diabetic eye disease?
Diabetic eye disease refers to a group of eye problems that people with
diabetes may face as a complication of this disease. All can cause severe vision
loss or even blindness.
Diabetic eye disease may include:
- Diabetic retinopathy: damage
to the blood vessels in the retina.
- Cataract: clouding of the
eye's lens.
- Glaucoma: increase in fluid
pressure inside the eye that leads to optic nerve damage and loss of vision.
Cataract and glaucoma also affect many people who do not have diabetes.
2 What
is the most common diabetic eye disease?
Diabetic retinopathy. This disease is a leading cause of blindness in
American adults. It is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina. In
some people with diabetic retinopathy, retinal blood vessels may swell and leak
fluid. In other people, abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the
retina. These changes may result in vision loss or blindness.
3 Who
is most likely to get diabetic retinopathy?
Anyone with diabetes. The longer someone has diabetes, the more likely he or
she will get diabetic retinopathy. Nearly half of all people with diabetes will
develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy during their lifetime.
4 What
are its symptoms?
Often there are none in the early stages of the disease. Vision may not
change until the disease becomes severe. Nor is there any pain.
Blurred vision may occur when the macula - the part of the retina that
provides sharp, central vision - swells from the leaking fluid. This condition
is called macular edema. If new vessels have grown on the surface of the retina,
they can bleed into the eye, blocking vision. But, even in more advanced cases,
the disease may progress a long way without symptoms. That is why regular eye
examinations for people with diabetes are so important.
5 How
is it detected?
If you have diabetes, you should have your eyes examined at least once a
year. Your eyes should be dilated during the exam. That means eyedrops are used
to enlarge your pupils. This allows the eye care professional to see more of the
inside of your eyes to check for signs of the disease.
6 Can
diabetic retinopathy be treated?
Yes. Your eye care professional may suggest laser surgery in which a strong
light beam is aimed onto the retina to shrink the abnormal vessels. Laser
surgery has been proved to reduce the risk of severe vision loss from this type
of diabetic retinopathy by 60 percent.
If you have macular edema, laser surgery may also be used. In this case, the
laser beam is used to seal the leaking blood vessels.
However, laser surgery often cannot restore vision that has already been
lost. That is why finding diabetic retinopathy early is the best way to prevent
vision loss.
7 How
common are the other diabetic eye diseases?
If you have diabetes, you are also at risk for other diabetic eye diseases.
Studies show that you are twice as likely to get a cataract as a person who does
not have the disease. Also, cataracts develop at an earlier age in people with
diabetes. Cataracts can usually be treated by surgery.
Glaucoma may also become a problem. A person with diabetes is nearly twice as
likely to get glaucoma as other adults. And, as with diabetic retinopathy, the
longer you have had diabetes, the greater your risk of getting glaucoma.
Glaucoma may be treated with medications, laser, or other forms of surgery.
8 What
research is being done?
Much research is being done to learn more about diabetic eye disease. For
instance, the National Eye Institute is supporting a number of research studies
in the laboratory and with patients to learn what causes diabetic retinopathy
and how it can be better treated. This research should provide better ways to
detect and treat diabetic eye disease and prevent blindness in more people with
diabetes.
9 What
can you do to protect your vision?
Finding and treating the disease early, before it causes vision loss or
blindness, is the best way to control diabetic eye disease. So, if you have
diabetes, make sure you get a dilated eye examination at least once a year.
This national education program is funded by a SightFirst
grant from the Lions Clubs International Foundation.
Material adapted from National Eye
Health Education Program
| 
