Diabetes And Routine Eye Exams

Diabetic Eye Disease:

• Can cause severe vision loss or blindness
• Diabetic Retinopathy: Damage to the blood vessels in the retina
• Cataract: Clouding of the lens of the eye
• Glaucoma: Increase in fluid pressure inside the eye that leads to optic nerve damage and loss of vision

The leading cause of blindness in American adults is the most common diabetic eye disease, Diabetic Retinopathy.

• Caused by changes in blood vessels in the retina
• Some retinal blood vessels may swell and leak fluid
• Some may grow on the surface of the retina

Symptoms:

• No pain
• Vision may not change until disease becomes severe
• Blurred vision, when macula swells from the leaking fluid
• If vessels grow onto the surface of the retina, they can bleed into the eye, blocking vision

Symptom-less progression is why regular eye exams for people with diabetes are so important.

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source: nih.gov