Every day, more is learned about how diabetes affects many aspects of overall health — including vision. In fact, the link between blood sugar and vision is extremely strong. These numbers tell just part of the story: Having diabetes raises your risk for cataracts by 60 percent and glaucoma by 40 percent. Another significant diabetes complication is retinopathy, progressive damage to your eyes that could ultimately lead to blindness. According to research in the journal Diabetes Care, close to 17 million people, or about 34 percent of those with diabetes, have some degree of diabetic retinopathy.
Understanding Diabetic Retinopathy
Your retina is the layer of tissue at the back of your eye where images are focused before moving to your brain. Small blood vessels normally feed this tissue and keep it healthy. Uncontrolled blood sugar damages both large and small blood vessels, including those that feed your eyes. As these small blood vessels become damaged, the tissue becomes less effective, harming the eyes themselves. Blocked blood vessels can lead to bleeding in the back of the eye or a detached retina. Related damage to the flow channels of the eye can cause glaucoma.
“Many people actually have retinopathy at the time they’re diagnosed with type 2 diabetes,” says Abdhish R. Bhavsar, MD, a clinical correspondent for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and co-director of the Retina Center of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “Early in the process of developing diabetic retinopathy, a person can’t even tell that they have it. You could be starting down the path of going blind and you wouldn't even know it.”
Dr. Bhavsar points out that diabetes-related eye damage isn't limited to older adults. With more young people and even children being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the risk for eye damage starts earlier in life. “We’re concerned that as these youngsters grow up, they’ll have a higher rate of retinopathy by the time they become middle-aged adults,” he says.
Preventing Diabetes-Related Eye Disorders
No matter what your age, there are steps you can take right now to protect your vision and eye health for years to come:
- Visit your eye doctor regularly. If you've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and haven’t already been seeing an ophthalmologist, or eye doctor, schedule a full eye exam, including dilation, as soon as possible. Then make sure to get annual checkups. “That way, your eye doctor can find and treat retinopathy if it develops, so you can have good vision longer," Bhavsar says. "When people are diagnosed early, 90 percent of blindness can be prevented.”
- Control your blood sugar. “The most important thing you can do to help preserve eye health is to control your blood sugar and aim for an A1C (a measurement of diabetes control) in the 6 to 7 range,” he says.
- Control blood pressure and cholesterol levels. People with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk for heart disease and other heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Gaining control of these health issues will also help protect your eyes.
- Lead a healthy lifestyle. If you’re working hard to control your diabetes, chances are you've increased your physical activity and are eating better — steps that also promote eye health.
The bottom line: Be proactive about avoiding diabetes-related eye disorders. Don’t wait until you have vision problems to see an eye doctor — by then, it may be too late. Schedule that appointment today.