Diabetic Eye
Who doesn’t love sweets? Sugar is harmful to any diabetic patient and also the diabetic eye. From soft drinks to processed food, sugar is present in almost everything. According to a survey of ResearchGate, an average Bangladeshi consumes 19.5 kilograms of sugar every year! But too much of anything can be harmful, and unlike any other things, too much sugar consumption can be dangerous also. Yes, I am talking about Diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Federation, almost 14.2 million people are suffering from diabetes in Bangladesh, and this rate is increasing every day. As most of us know, diabetes is an incurable disease, and it brings some other symptoms too.Among which the most unknown one is diabetic eyes. But what are diabetic eyes?
The diabetic eye is a bunch of eye problems that affect diabetic patients. According to a study by The U.S Department of Health and Human Services, one out of three diabetes patients have chances of getting diabetic eyes. It causes serious damage to eyes, which can lead up to blindness. But how does diabetes affects your eyes?
We consume sugar, which is transformed into energy by a hormone called insulin. But when our body fails to produce insulin, then this sugar is mixed with our blood, and when the sugar level of our blood gets too high, it causes diabetes. These blood cells containing high sugar floats through our whole body. But when these blood cells reach the back of our eyes, it damages the blood vessels of our eyes. Sometimes blood sugar level gets so high that it destroys our eye’s blood vessels and leaks fluids, which causes blurry vision. While new blood vessels start to grow, it can leak blood inside our eyes, leading to permanent scars and dangerously high pressure inside our eyes, which may lead to blindness. So, what are the symptoms of Diabetic eyes?
The most horrifying part of diabetic eyes is that it has no early symptoms, which makes it more dangerous for people who have undetected diabetes. But symptoms occur when the damage gets severe. At first, the patient gets a blurry vision. Then the patient loses vision and poor color vision strat. After that, spots and dark strings starts to come. Lastly, the patient sees flashes of lights. These symptoms can lead to blindness. So, if you have these symptoms, please consult an eye specialist as soon as possible. But can it be remedied? And can it be prevented?
If you have the above symptoms, don’t worry. Because with proper care and medicines, mild diabetic eyes can be completely remedied. If your condition is severe, it can also be remedied with surgery. There are many surgeries like cataract lens surgery, vitrectomy, laser treatment, which are done to cure diabetic eyes. But with cautiousness, diabetic eyes can be prevented in the first place. A diabetic patient should regularly check up his sugar level, and if he/she can keep his sugar level close to normal, he/she has no chance of affecting diabetic eyes. Then a patient can prevent diabetic eye by controlling his/ her blood pressure and cholesterol. Other than that, a diabetic patient must stop smoking to avoid diabetic eyes.