Panhandle Eye Group Amarillo Cataract Laser Center for Vision Broome Optical
INFO AND EYE DISORDERS





Diabetes and the Eyes

Diabetes, a disease that prevents your body from making or using insulin to break down sugar in your bloodstream, can affect your eyes and your vision.

Fluctuating or blurring of vision, occasional double vision, loss of peripheral vision and flashes and floaters within the eyes may be symptoms related to diabetes. Sometimes the early signs of diabetes are detected during a thorough eye examination.

Diabetes can cause changes in nearsightedness and farsightedness and lead to premature presbyopia (the inability to focus on close objects). It can result in cataracts, glaucoma, a lack of eye muscle coordination (strabismus) and decreased corneal sensitivity. The most serious eye problem associated with diabetes is diabetic retinopathy, which, if not controlled, can lead to blindness.

What is retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy occurs when there is a weakening or swelling of the tiny blood vessels in the retina of your eye, resulting in blood leakage, the growth of new blood vessels and other changes.

Can vision loss from diabetes be prevented?
Yes, in a routine eye examination, your eye care practitioner can diagnose potential vision-threatening changes in your eyes that may be treated to prevent blindness. However, once damage has occurred, the effects are usually permanent. It is important to control your diabetes as much as possible to minimize the risk of developing retinopathy.

How is diabetic retinopathy treated?
In the early stages, diabetic retinopathy can be treated with laser therapy. A bright beam of light is focused on the retina, causing a burn which seals off leaking blood vessels. In other cases, surgery inside the eye may be necessary. Early detection of diabetic retinopathy is crucial. It is routinely screened for in an eye examination.

Are there risk factors for developing retinopathy?
Several factors that increase the risk of developing retinopathy include smoking, high blood pressure, drinking alcohol and pregnancy.

How can diabetes-related eye problems be prevented?
By monitoring and maintaining control of your diabetes. See your physician regularly and follow
instructions about diet, exercise and medication. See an eye care specialist for a thorough eye examination when you are first diagnosed as a diabetic, at least annually thereafter and more frequently if recommended.

Positive treatment diabetic retinopathy
Unfortunately, common diabetes is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States today. However, with the use of lasers and sometimes surgery vision loss can be prevented and, in some cases, reversed. The most important thing to realize about diabetic eye disease is that it is most treatable early, before vision has been affected. therefore, it is very important for all diabetics to have annual eye exams, even if they have good vision. Panhandle Eye Group can provide those eye exams and the laser and surgical treatments necessary to prevent or treat visual loss from diabetes.








EYE CONDITIONS AND INFORMATION
Astigmatism / Cataracts / Computer Vision Syndrome / Conjunctivitis / Diabetes and the Eyes / Double Vision / Dry Eye / Farsightedness / Glaucoma / Lazy Eye / Low Vision / Macular Degeneration / Nearsightedness / Presbyopia / Spots and Floaters / Styes




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