How Can You Tell If Diabetes Is Affecting Your Eyes?
Many symptoms of eye diseases and other problems begin in the eyes, and diabetes is one of them. What is diabetes? It’s a health issue characterized by a high volume of glucose (or blood sugar).
People with diabetes can’t process insulin well, which prevents the body from using glucose as an energy source. There are various kinds of diabetes, including type 1 and type 2.
Over 30 million people in the U.S. possess some form of diabetes, with millions more in danger of getting this health condition every year. Fortunately, at your annual comprehensive eye exam, your eye doctor will look for signs of diabetes to make sure you get treatment started right away if you need it.
So, how can you tell if diabetes is affecting your eyes? Let’s hear from our expert eye care team.
How can you tell if diabetes is affecting your eyes?
The first step to diabetes detection is to have your eye doctor examine behind each eye at the retina. They’ll be on the lookout for diabetic eye disease symptoms, such as for cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma.
These conditions rarely present symptoms right away, which can make them challenging to detect if you don’t see an eye doctor for regular eye exams. However, by finding signs of eye diseases, you can start treatment before the conditions become too severe and eventually cause vision loss.
How can you tell if diabetes is affecting your eyes if symptoms aren’t immediate? The optometrist is the one to tell. After dilating your pupils for the eye tests, they’ll get a closer look at the blood vessels in the eye and can pinpoint symptoms of diabetes.
Diabetic retinopathy is one of the first conditions they’ll inspect for, and that can cause symptoms over time, such as blurry vision, eye floaters, and blank areas in your line of sight. Before the eye disease gets to the point of apparent symptoms, the eye doctor may find out about it by inspecting the blood vessels behind your retina for any escaping liquids.
How are diabetes and eye care connected?
Taking care of your eyes won’t necessarily prevent or slow diabetes, but treating your body right can. For instance, the American Optometric Association (AOA) says that the ways to decelerate your diabetic retinopathy symptoms are to be consistent with your medication, eat a healthy diet, and exercise.
Also, when you schedule yearly eye exams with your eye doctor, controlling diabetes can become easier. That is because the optometrist can detect diabetic eye diseases through various tests and can help you devise a plan of action.
Diabetes and eye care aren’t always connected, but having annual eye appointments is a great preventive eye care technique to monitor your eyes for any changes, such as diabetes, that can impact your vision in the future.
Summary: How does diabetes impact your eye health?
Thanks to our advanced eye tests and technology, our eye doctors can detect diabetes, and eye care has never been more straightforward. Protecting your eye health may not deter diabetes, but it can help with any diabetic eye disease symptoms you may have for cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, or glaucoma, among others.
How can you tell if diabetes is affecting your eyes? The eye doctor may notice before you do during your comprehensive eye exam, where they’ll dilate your pupils and inspect your retina (and the blood vessels around it) for signs of harm. If you develop diabetic retinopathy, you may experience blurry vision, eye floaters, and more.
So, why wait to get an eye exam on the books? Our offices have availability most days of the week, and many of our locations even have eye doctors open on Saturday or Sunday.
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Have you had your annual comprehensive eye exam? Schedule an appointment with an Independent Doctor of Optometry at your local For Eyes.
