Diabetes and Your Eyes

Diabetes, especially when uncontrolled, can cause permanent damage to multiple end organs including:

Feet
Kidneys
Eyes

Please see below to learn how diabetes can affect the eyes.

How diabetes manifests itself in the eye - a closer look

Top left: a normal retina with healthy optic disc and no abnormal vessels or fluid in the retina.

Top right: a patient with diabetic macular edema. Note the cholesterol deposits, or hard exudates in the central macula with adjacent fluid. This patient has received laser treatment in the past, as evidenced by the black/gray circular scars in the retina.

Who should be tested for diabetes and how often?

Patients with type 1 diabetes should typically be tested 5 years after onset of disease, and patient with type 2 diabetes at the time of diagnosis. Screening can be annual if no retinopathy is present on initial exam. If there is retinopathy, further evaluation will need to happen more frequently, and Dr. Ali will discuss optimal times for re-evaluation at your appointment.

Diabetic retinopathy can accelerate at a faster pace for patients with diabetes who then become pregnant or at the time of puberty; and particularly close follow up should occur during those times. (This does not apply to gestational diabetes).

Stages of Diabetic Retinopathy

If you have been told you have diabetic retinopathy, this means there are tiny blood vessels in your retina that leak fluid. Initial stages are known as mild or moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy

In time, these leaky blood vessels can cause thickening of the macula, or the central part of your retina where fine-focus vision takes place. This is known as macular edema

Leaky blood vessels may also cause abnormal growth of unhealthy blood vessels, called neovascularization. Once new vessels develop, the disease is known as proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic Retinopathy Prevention

Following the guidance of your primary care provider (PCP) and controlling sugars is critical. Checking your sugars at home, modifying diet based on your sugar control, exercising regularly, and taking prescribed medications will all help bring your diabetes under control and reduce your risk for diabetic retinopathy.

Controlling any other co-existing problems you may have (high cholesterol, hypertension) can also help reduce risk of damage to all end organs, including your eyes.