Can diabetes affect my vision?
Yes, diabetes can affect your vision. Through the effects of high blood sugar, diabetes can cause damage to the inside of blood vessels throughout the body. This includes blood vessels in the eye. Most commonly, diabetes causes vision problems by causing damage to the small blood vessels supplying the retina, the tissue in the eye that senses light and allows us to see. This is referred to as diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes can also affect the lens in the eye, by either changing its optical power (and changing a patient’s glasses prescription) or causing the lens to turn into a cataract.
How can I tell if my diabetes is affecting my eyes?
The only way to know for sure if diabetes is affecting your eyes is to have a thorough eye exam. With that said, when patients notice symptoms from diabetic retinopathy they most frequently experience blurry vision. Patients that have had a bleed inside their eye can also experience floaters in addition to decreased vision.
What is diabetic eye disease?
Diabetes can cause damage to the small blood vessels inside the eye that supply the retina. This can lead to bleeding and leakage which can affect vision. Often a person doesn’t know when this damage is occurring, which is why it is so important to have regular eye exams with your eye doctor. If you do have diabetic eye disease, there are a variety of treatment options available including laser surgery and injection of medication into the eye. Dr. Potthoff has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic eye disease.
Are there different types of diabetic retinopathy?
Yes. Without getting too technical, eye doctors categorize diabetic retinopathy as either non-proliferative or proliferative. This distinction is made based on whether new and diseased blood vessels have actually start growing (proliferating) inside the eye. The majority of diabetic retinopathy is non-proliferative. Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) results in blood vessel changes, leakage, and bleeding. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is more advanced because new and diseased blood vessels are actually growing inside the eye. These new blood vessels are fragile and can spontaneously bleed; they can also exert traction and cause the retina to tear or detach. In addition to making the distinction between NPDR and PDR, eye doctors also monitor for the presence of diabetic macular edema (DME). This means that fluid is leaking into the macula, which is the center of the retina where our sharpest vision is produced. This fluid can often result in blurry vision and distortion.
How is diabetic macular edema treated?
Today, the most common first-line treatment for diabetic macular edema is the injection of anti-VEGF medications into the eye. These medications were developed to help stop the leakage and allow the fluid in the retina to resolve. Steroids can also be injected into the eye treat diabetic macular edema, but this carries the an increased risk of side effects. In addition to these injections, laser is sometimes used to treat diabetic macular edema.