What can I do to reduce the risk of sight loss from diabetes?

It has been shown that excellent control of diabetes and monitoring / treating high blood pressure significantly reduces potential sight threatening complications.

Ensure that you have your regular (usually annual) diabetic check ups at your clinic or hospital where they will monitor / measure you sugar control and blood pressure. Should this expose a problem they will guide you to the best course of action.

Diabetic smokers are more likely to experience nerve damage, kidney and cardiovascular disease and smoking increases your blood pressure and raises your blood sugar level. Not smoking, good sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol control can all reduce the risk of diabetes related sight loss.

Your physician, diabetologist or optometrist can examine your eyes for diabetic retinopathy. Photographs of the retina can detect abnormalities without any other form of test and if a problem is found you will be referred to a consultant ophthalmologist.

What is the treatment?

If detected early the majority of sight-threatening problems caused by diabetic retinopathy can be managed by laser treatment. This treatment will preserve the sight you have but will not make it better. The laser seals the leaking blood vessels or if new blood vessels are growing, more extensive laser treatment will be carried out which can be quite painful. Many people find eye treatment of this kind quite distressing.

The treatment for sealing blood vessels has few side effects, perhaps a temporary reduction of sight which may last an hour or two after the treatment and maybe some loss to central vision or some small black spots in your vision.

A more common side effect is some loss to your peripheral vision which could affect your ability to drive safely. Night and color vision may also be affected.

Occasionally your central vision may not be as good as before.

Laser treatment to remove new blood vessels is more complicated and therefore carries more chance of side effects.

Should you suffer severe pain or if your eyesight gets worse post treatment, you should contact your eye specialist immediately. If this is not possible, go straight to your nearest hospital.

After laser treatment, should your eye condition become more severe, causing retinal detachment and scar tissue, or if the vitreous becomes cloudy due to recurrent bleeding, you will need an operation called a vitrectomy. This highly specialized operation will involve the vitreous being removed and replaced with a clear solution.

Other ways diabetes can affect the eyes

Temporary blurring

This can be one of the first symptoms of diabetes or if your diabetes is not well controlled. It is due to a swelling of the lens of the eye and will clear without treatment once good diabetes control is restored.

Cataracts

This very common eye condition happens as people get older but someone with diabetes may develop cataracts at an earlier age than someone without diabetes because diabetes is an aging disease. Until recently, the only treatment offered for those suffering with cataracts involves an operation to remove the cloudy lens and replaced by a plastic lens.

Can-C eye drops are already being used by thousands of people suffering with cataract to dissolve their cataracts rather than going under the knife.

But Can-C eye drops are also an excellent weapon in combating diabetic eye conditions. If you are at risk of contracting diabetes or you are a diabetic or one of your loved ones has this terrible aging disease, consider the importance of maintaining good eye health. In between your regular eye check ups you could protect your eyes against potential eye problems with Can-C from as little as 57 cents a day. A daily administration can keep your eyes healthy and gives your eyes the best fighting chance against some of the horrific conditions associated with this century’s epidemic – diabetes.