How does diabetes affect the eye?
What are the signs of diabetes that may be in the eye?
What is diabetic eye disease?
According to ophthalmologist Dr. Yu Guang at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, “As many as 1 in 4 adults of working age (from their early 20s to early 60s) in America has diabetes from The second type, but they don't know it. So, you can imagine their surprise when they visit me, because of their blurred vision, and I refer them for a diabetes check."
“Patients with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of developing Diabetic Eye Disease, a group of eye diseases associated with diabetes such as diabetic retinopathy and Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). Nearly a third of my working age patients have Eye damage caused by diabetes, and diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in this age group.
Left untreated, diabetic eye disease can cause permanent vision damage and even blindness.
That's why it's important to know the symptoms, even if you haven't been diagnosed with diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetic eye disease, include two groups:
Firstly.
Symptoms of Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy damages the blood vessels in the retina.
If left untreated, it can cause vision loss and can progress to diabetic macular edema (DME).
Approximately 40% to 45% of people with diabetes have symptoms of diabetic retinopathy, although many do not notice them. Symptoms can include:
blurry vision
Eye floaters, which are points in your field of vision.
They may appear as black or gray cobwebs, streaks, or strands that wander into your field of vision when you move your eyes and seem to disappear quickly when you try to look at them directly, according to the Mayo Clinic.
faded colors
Empty or dark areas in your field of vision
Secondly.
Symptoms of Diabetic Macular Edema
Diabetic macular edema is the accumulation of fluid in the center of the retina, or macula.
This part of the eye is responsible for sharp vision and most of our color vision.
Symptoms can include:
Blurry or wavy vision in the center of your field of vision
eye floaters
faded colors
"Both forms of diabetic eye disease are treatable. The types of treatment and their effectiveness depend on the severity of the condition," said Dr. Yu Guang.
What are the treatment options for diabetic eye disease?
Control diabetes by making healthy lifestyle choices.
Physical activity, such as walking or doing yoga, should be part of your daily routine.
Prioritize eating a healthy diet that contains more fiber, such as beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fewer carbohydrates.
Monitor your blood sugar levels.
Take your medications as prescribed. Sometimes blood pressure or cholesterol medications can affect your blood sugar.
It is important to take these medications as prescribed and work with your doctor to adjust the doses if your blood sugar rises.
Medications. During regular clinic visits, your eye doctor can administer medications directly into the eye.
Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (Anti-VEGF) therapy is a commonly used drug treatment to reduce retinal swelling and inhibit the growth of retinal blood vessels.
Another option is corticosteroid medication, which can reduce inflammation caused by diabetic retinopathy.
Eye surgery. For some patients, minimally invasive surgery can help slow the progression of diabetic eye disease.
Laser procedures can shrink or block blood vessels to reduce swelling.
Another option is a vitrectomy, which is a procedure to remove vitreous fluid and blood that can leak from blood vessels.
An ophthalmologist can replace the gel-like vitreous with saline or another sterile material, which helps treat eye floaters and other symptoms associated with diabetes.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a metabolic disease - metabolism is also known as metabolism, which is the process of converting food into energy and other substances used by the body - caused by a lack of the hormone insulin, or the weakness of the normal response of the body's cells to insulin, which enters the sugar in the blood (glucose) to the cells, and in both cases The result is similar, as the levels of glucose in the blood rise above the normal limit, and this leads to negative effects on the body sooner and later.
Insulin is a hormone made by the "beta" cells of the pancreas, which secrete insulin into the bloodstream after eating, in response to a spike in sugar in the bloodstream.
Glucose forms the energy into which food that a person eats, and it is excreted in the blood, so that the cells of the body take it and burn it to produce the energy needed for its vital processes.
To do this, they need the hormone insulin, which makes glucose move from the bloodstream into the cells.
Whenever the level of glucose in the blood rises, the pancreas secretes a greater amount of insulin to reduce it, but if it decreases, the pancreas reduces or stops the secretion of insulin, and the body in turn secretes 4 other hormones to raise its level in the blood, namely: glucagon, cortisol, adrenaline and growth hormone, which causes the liver to release glucose to blood stream.
In normal conditions, the body maintains the level of glucose in the blood in a range between 70 and 120 milligrams per deciliter, through a mechanism that ensures that its level is maintained even if a person fasts for a long period of time from food, or (conversely) eating a large amount of it;
In diabetes, glucose rises above the normal limit.
Types of diabetes
Type 1 diabetes
It is also called insulin-dependent diabetes and juvenile diabetes.
It is an autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells in the pancreas, which leads to a gradual decrease in the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.
This process of destruction extends for months or years, and eventually the amount of insulin becomes too low, which leads to high blood glucose and the emergence of diabetes symptoms.
The disease develops before the age of 35, and the ages of those affected are usually between 10 and 16 years.
It constitutes 5% to 10% of people with diabetes.
Treatment of type 1 diabetes requires the patient to be given insulin by injection or by pump, and this leads to a decrease in blood glucose and control.
There is no cure for this type yet, but scientists hope to develop a mechanism to produce new beta cells in people with this type of diabetes, through stem cell research and regenerative medicine.
Type 2 diabetes
It is called non-insulin-dependent diabetes and adult diabetes, in which the sensitivity of cells to insulin decreases, that is, the degree of response of the body's cells to it decreases, and this is called "insulin resistance", as cells resist the hormone insulin, whose function is to introduce glucose into them.
In normal conditions, insulin sticks to the cell, giving off a signal within it that commands a type of vector to carry glucose from the cell surface to the inside. In the case of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance occurs, which is the obstruction of the signal that it sends into the cell, which leads to glucose not entering, accumulating and rising in the cell. blood stream.
To solve this problem, the pancreas increases its production of insulin, in order to reverse the effect of its resistance, and this may continue for months or years, but eventually insulin resistance grows, the pancreas becomes tired and glucose levels rise in the blood.
People with this type are usually obese, and therefore weight reduction and dietary modification are the first mechanisms of treatment, in addition to medications, some of which stimulate insulin secretion from the pancreas, and some of them increase the sensitivity of cells to the hormone.
This type usually affects people over the age of 40, and makes up 90% of people with diabetes, and heredity contributes to it more than type 1 diabetes, and obesity is one of the most important factors in its incidence.
But if a diabetic does not respond to the required changes in food and movement, or glucose levels remain high, this may lead to an exacerbation of the disease, which prompts the doctor to move in later stages to treatment with insulin injections.
The second type of diabetes, like the first, does not have a curative treatment so far, but reducing weight and changing the pattern of food and movement leads to better control of the level of glucose in the blood, and may reduce the person's need for treatments such as anti-diabetic drugs or insulin injections.
Pregnancy diabetes
Also called gestational diabetes, blood glucose levels rise in some pregnant women, and usually return to their normal level after giving birth.
Women who have developed gestational diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the future.
Diabetes symptoms
Excessive thirst.
frequent urination.
Loss of energy and decreased vitality.
increased appetite;
Weight loss.
Vision problems that are initially temporary, but may become permanent if blood glucose is not controlled.
Confusion and loss of consciousness.
Accumulation of acids in the blood and loss of consciousness, in patients with type 1 diabetes.
pre-diabetes
There is a condition called "prediabetes", which means that the patient's blood sugar level is lower than the person diagnosed with diabetes, but at the same time it is higher than the normal level.
If not addressed, a person will develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years or less.