Diabetes and Your Vision

Diabetes is a common disease (about 1/10 of Americans) that has several complications - in many cases, it can affect the eyes, causing changes in vision or sometimes vision that is permanently worsened by bleeding and scarring, as well as swelling in the back of the eye. It also increases the risk of cataracts and glaucoma.

The most important risk factor for diabetes affecting vision is the amount of time that each patient has been diabetic for. Higher A1c readings over extended times are most likely to cause bleeding and visual loss.

Unfortunately, even if vision is still good, even 20/20, there may be signs of diabetic retinopathy, or bleeding in the back of the eye. Often times I see patients that had no idea their eyes were at risk from the diabetes and our office needs to communicate with the patients’ primary care providers to stabilize the blood vessels and prevent visual loss.

The best way to look for diabetic changes in the back of the eye are with regular eye examinations. An optometrist of ophthalmologist has the necessary tools to see any changes over time. Having retinal imaging is important for precise measurements that can notice the smallest differences from visit to visit.

Treating diabetic retinopathy is complicated, and can range from eye injections to stop growth of new, leaky, weak blood vessels, to laser treatment that lowers demand of resources from the retina, to surgery that removes the jelly inside of the eye. The best treatment tends to be not by treating the problems from the diabetes, but rather, from treating the diabetes itself. Using medications, diet, and exercise to get the HbA1c to a normal level, and for it to stay there greatly minimize risk for retinal issues. Once the retinopathy gets severe, it is much harder to treat with any of the above options, so it is imperative that we diagnose and treat these problems early on.

At North Park Family Vision, all of our patients are screened with retinal photography, included with our exam. Dr. Mark will also evaluate all patients thoroughly to note any findings and track any changes in order to manage each patient accordingly. The bottom line is, get your annual eye exam - early detection is the best prevention.