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Diabetes and Resulting Eye Disease

Damage to the eye, more specifically the retina is by definition the medical study of retinopathy cause directly from diabetes. The more direct cause is from hyperglycemia or high blood sugar that is not under control through a regimented food diet or diabetes medication. This is not necessarily the fault of the medical community either because many times individuals who sense that something is going very wrong with their bodies react slowly because denial always comes first.

High blood sugar levels over a long period of time left unattended will result in retinopathy and it is sad in a way because thousands of individuals ultimately lose their eyesight because of denial and neglect. When diabetes is diagnosable early many of the symptoms that ultimately appear are controllable through diabetic medicine and a change in diet on the part of the individual.

Diabetic retinopathy is a serious condition when the small blood vessels, or capillaries in the retina become weak. The retina is that part of the eye structure that is responsible for an individual’s vision. Unfortunately the blood vessel structure becomes very elastic and bulges out in response to the pressure building up in the tissues and the retina, or an aneurysm. There are two distinct types of diabetic retinopathy, non-proliferative retinopathy, and proliferative retinopathy.

Non-proliferative retinopathy is a blood vessel wall loosing strength and fills the eye with blood. The delicate eye tissues are no longer oxygenating and vision becomes blurred. Proliferative retinopathy grows addition vessels or capillaries which are useless and the end result winds up being the same with blurred vision. However, if this continues without any treatment for diabetes, this will lead to blindness. The pressure within the eye will cause much pain to the individual until the difficulty is under control for easy management.

Management of the eyes is not always an easy task and to complicate the issue with complications only hastens the decline even further. The pressure building within the eye accumulates and the eyeball will begin to show noticeable swelling. This is leading into glaucoma which causes much pain to the individual, especially in strong sunlight. The treatment of diabetes will help to alleviate this pending condition, but the immediate attention must focus on the eye. The optic nerve which is responsible for the delivery of pictures sent to the brain to decipher will end up cut through the pressure.

Optic nerves are neither replaceable or can the damage be reversed leading the individual to living a life of blindness. High blood sugar levels are another contributing factor with this malady. The whole idea is to meet with the family medical physician and any other recommended specialist regularly to avoid incidents such as this from happening. There are other conditions that lead to blindness when deficient in medical care, but part of the responsibility is for the individual to take notice of any changes observed. Neglecting the situation will lead to permanent blindness.

Individuals who experience these symptoms must notify their family medical physician, their ophthalmologist, or their optometrist to set up an appointment as quickly as possible to have the individuals eyes checked. There are many diabetic articles that explain in more detail exactly what the cause and effect of this is to the individual. Diabetic treatment and medication from the ophthalmologist will help the individual for a time, but more permanent treatment is necessary. Depending upon the severity of the pain and the swelling of the eye the ophthalmologist will prescribe diabetic medication that is compatible with the individual’s internal system.

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