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It is called the largest non-infectious epidemic of the 4st century. Every year 15 million people die from it worldwide. In Poland, over a million people suffer from it, although they do not know it. Vision problems can be one of the first symptoms of diabetes. The WHO estimates that 14 million people have already lost their eyesight as a result of complications from diabetes. November XNUMX is World Diabetes Day. It reminds us to test our sugar levels and our eyesight. – If not treated, diabetes can damage many organs, including the eye. The most important damaging factor is too high sugar level – says Dr. Agnieszka Jamrozy-Witkowska, an ophthalmologist from the Optegra * clinic.
- Poland is one of the ten countries where the percentage of people affected by impaired glucose tolerance (IGT – the state preceding type 2 diabetes) is the highest in the world.
- The risk of blindness in people with diabetes is more than 25 times higher than in healthy people
- The awareness of complications that diabetes can cause is almost nil in Poland. And in working people, neglect and inadequate treatment of diabetes are the most common causes of irreversible blindness.
- It is sometimes worth taking an hour off work to go to an ophthalmologist or laboratory and get tested. Let us remember: the corporation will not regain our sight
According to the Coalition for Fighting Diabetes, after 20 years of disease, over 75% of patients diagnosed with diabetes will develop the so-called diabetic retinopathy. The most troublesome complication is diabetic macular edema (DME), and it is DME that is most often responsible for the loss or impairment of vision in diabetic patients.
How high blood sugar is bad for your eyes?
– Diabetes mellitus is a disease which, if left untreated, can damage various organs, including the eye. The most important damaging factor is too much sugar. Fluctuations in glycaemia (blood glucose levels) can cause temporary visual disturbances due to changes in the condition of the lens. Both hypoglycaemia and too much sugar in the blood affect the vision defect, and thus worse vision, as the patient periodically becomes “hyperopic” or “short-sighted”. Sometimes the first symptom of diabetes may be drooping eyelid and strabismus. Diabetes also accelerates the development of senile cataracts, says Dr. Agnieszka Jamrozy-Witkowska, an ophthalmologist from the Optegra clinic.
Do you have diabetes? Go to an ophthalmologist!
Often, eye damage progresses without being aware of diabetes in people with diabetes. It happens that the symptoms do not arouse anxiety of the sick person, because he or she puts them down, for example, by age. And they are irreversible! That is why it is so important that every patient with newly diagnosed diabetes obligatorily consults an ophthalmologist. Based on the fundus examination, as well as additional tests such as OCT (retinal tomography) or AF (fluorescein angiography), the doctor will be able to determine the degree of damage to the retina by diabetes. Abnormal blood glucose levels have a very destructive effect on this part of the eye, leading to the development of a disease called diabetic retinopathy. It may involve the central retina, that is, the macula, or the peripheral retina. Unregulated glycaemia stimulates the growth of abnormal retinal vessels which, when bursting, cause blood to bleed into the eye or generate secondary glaucoma with high pressure in the eyeball. Diabetes mellitus can also aggravate the symptoms of dry eye, giving a feeling of sand under the eyelids, and temporary blurred vision – adds Dr. Agnieszka Jamrozy-Witkowska, ophthalmologist at the Optegra clinic.
If we want to maintain good vision in diabetes, strictly follow the recommendations of the diabetologist. Regular eye checkups at least once a year are important, as well as diet and exercise. A person with diabetes should have a balanced diet and regularly, preferably every day, engage in some physical activity, such as walking.
* On the occasion of World Diabetes Day – on November 14, Optegra clinics invite people diagnosed with the disease to eye tests. You can sign up by calling 222 426 260.