What does diabetic eye damage look like?
When you have diabetes, this disease can lead to eye damage. It is crucial to have an annual eye exam where your eyes get dilated to check to see if you have diabetic retinopathy if you are diabetic, even if you aren’t currently experiencing any symptoms. Diabetic retinopathy is a serious medical condition that can lead to loss of vision. At Perich Eye Center we care for many people with this condition with some of the best, most cutting edge technology.
What is diabetic retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is caused by microscopic damage to the retinal blood vessels, causing them to become leaky. People with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are both at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy. One of the main contributing factors to developing diabetic retinopathy is uncontrolled blood sugar that leads to increased damage to the retinal blood vessels.
In diabetic retinopathy the blood vessels of the retina become abnormal and develop tiny leaks, causing fluid or blood to seep into the retina, especially the macula. When fluid accumulates in the macula, it becomes wet and swollen and cannot work properly. This is called macular edema, which causes the central vision to become blurry.
Diabetic retinopathy progresses in four stages: Mild Nonproliferative, to Moderate Nonproliferative, to Severe Nonproliferative, and finally Proliferative Retinopathy. Each stage can have different warning signs, although they do build on one another.
Mild Nonproliferative Retinopathy:
This is the beginning stage. This is often the hardest to recognize as its symptoms are mild in nature. When you have mild nonproliferative retinopathy, you may start to notice your vision is blurry. This is from the swelling that can begin in the retina. The blood vessels in the retina can start to leak. They are very small and are very hard to notice without a microscope, therefore this is not visible to the naked eye.
Moderate Nonproliferative Retinopathy:
When you have moved to the second stage, you are at the moderate nonproliferative retinopathy stage. At this point, the blurriness usually becomes more apparent. Additionally, your may notice a reduction in your vision. A person with macular edema will usually experience some loss of vision. Macular edema is when this swelling occurs on the central part of the retina (the macula). Blood and fluid seem from the tiny leaks, and fatty material (called exudates) can deposit on the retina, causing swelling of the retina.
You may also notice partial vision loss that fluctuates and trouble seeing at night or other low light settings.
Severe Nonproliferative Retinopathy:
You guessed it, this is the third stage of diabetic retinopathy. By now, you have gone through the first two stages the blood vessels in your retina are blocked. This means no blood is getting into the retina, which is vital. At this point, you will definitely notice problems with your vision including blurriness, loss of sight, poor to little ability to see at night, and you could be seeing spots or floaters. These are all tell tale signs of diabetic retinopathy.
If each macula is severely damaged, central vision may be lost from each eye. Even if the ability to see detail has been lost from both eyes, a person with severe nonproliferative retinopathy can usually learn to use areas just outside the macula to see some detail and perform everyday tasks.
Proliferative Retinopathy:
This is the final stage. In proliferative retinopathy, large areas of the retinal blood vessels become obstructed causing the retina to lose its source of nutrients. When this happens, peripheral vision is often reduced and the person’s ability to see at night or adjust their site to changes in lighting is often diminished.
The retina will develop new, abnormal blood vessels in an attempt to compensate for its loss of nourishment. This is called neovascularization, and it is very dangerous to the eye. Neovascularization does not nourish the retina properly, and may cause other problems such as bleeding into the vitreous cavity (called vitreous hemorrhage) or the growth of scar tissue on the retina, which can pull the retina off the back wall of the eye (called traction retinal detachment). Either of these severe problems, vitreous hemorrhage or traction retinal detachment, can lead to severe loss of vision or total blindness.
What does diabetic eye damage look like?
Though vision may gradually become blurred, significant loss of sight does not usually occur with non-proliferative retinopathy. Since the patient does not experience pain or external symptoms such as bloodshot eyes or discharge, changes in the retina can go unnoticed unless detected by an eye exam. Therefore, visually the eye itself will typically not look any different. This will be the case for the first three stages of diabetic retinopathy.
Once the disease has progressed to the later stage of Proliferative Retinopathy, some visual signs may start to occur. When bleeding occurs in proliferative retinopathy, the patient has clouding or complete loss of sight. Connective tissue pulling on the retina causes distortion and blurring. However, if abnormalities occur in the peripheral retina, the patient may not experience any symptoms.
Please let us know if you are having any of the following symptoms:
Vision fluctuations
Blurred vision
Poor to little ability to see at night
Seeing spots or floaters
Clouding or complete loss of sight
Distortion of vision
Any of these symptoms should raise an alarm for you to schedule an exam to have your eyes checked out- even if it is not time for your yearly exam just yet. If you have diabetes, we recommend getting a dilated eye exam at least once a year to look for signs of diabetic retinopathy or other vision problems, even if you aren’t currently experiencing any symptoms. If you are diabetic and are considering getting pregnant, please make an appointment with us to establish a baseline for your care.
How do you treat diabetic retinopathy?
Your treatment will depend on the severity of your diabetic retinopathy. If you have only minor damage to your blood vessels, we will care for you with regular monitoring and managing of your diabetes through diet and exercise. Early detection is often the best way of protecting your eyes from serious damage.
If your diabetic retinopathy is more advanced, a laser procedure at our center may be recommended. During your surgery one of our doctors will use photocoagulation to seal leaking blood vessels and prevent further tissue damage.
Other cases may require an intraocular surgery called a vitrectomy. This procedure involves the removal of the vitreous, a gel-like fluid inside the eye. Saline liquid, or a gas or silicone oil bubble, will be used to replace this fluid and stabilize pressure in the eye.
There is currently no simple “quick fix” cure for diabetic retinopathy, but there are several ways to prevent a worsening of your symptoms and protect your vision.
How can I slow down diabetic retinopathy?
Making healthy lifestyle choices to keep your blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels low can help to slow down the progression. All those healthy choices in foods and exercise can really make a difference for your overall health and wellness. Eating a diet of real foods and cutting back on alcohol and caffeine is always a good choice to help your body out.
Smoking is also strongly suggested to quit doing. Exercise daily by moving the body doesn’t mean you have to go hard in the gym for hours. Long walks outside or swimming in a pool keeps the blood flowing and the body going. Did you know that by swinging your arms while walking you increase your calorie burning by 20%? Go ahead and get into a good walk to burn those calories and move the body!
We would love to help you here at Perich Eye Centers with our trusted and very experienced team. Contact us today to schedule your next appointment!
