Treatments That Might Save You From Vision Loss Due To Diabetes
Diabetes has many serious health complications and some of them can affect your vision. Whether you have type 1, type 2, or gestational diabetes, your eyes can be damaged by the high amount of glucose circulating in your blood. Diabetes can cause edema in your eyes as well as a condition called diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes can also make you more susceptible to glaucoma and cataracts. Therefore, it is extremely important to see your eye doctor regularly for monitoring and treatment when you have diabetes. Here are some treatments your eye doctor might recommend.
Control Your Health Issues
The most important treatment for diabetic eye problems is to keep your other health issues under control. This means to keep your blood sugar in the proper range through lifestyle changes and medication if necessary. Diabetes is often complicated with other issues such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
The medical condition affects your cardiovascular system, and since blood flows through your eyes, problems with your blood pressure or blood vessels can affect your eyes too. Therefore, to save your eyes from diabetic damage, try to get your health issues under control by working closely with your doctor to stabilize blood glucose and prevent the progression of cardiovascular damage.
Take Eye Medications
If damage is progressing in your eyes, your doctor may suggest certain medications. These drugs are often injected directly into your eyes. The injection is given in the edge of your eye using a very tiny needle so the medication can affect the eye tissue immediately. One drug your doctor may consider is a corticosteroid. This type of drug reduces swelling in your eye to reduce the risk of eye damage that leads to blindness.
Another type of drug is used to control the proliferation of tiny blood vessels in your eyes. When you have diabetes, abnormal vessels might grow in your eyes. These are weak and leak blood into the tissues. When that happens, you could experience a sudden loss of vision. Medication can target these vessels and cause them to shrivel and fade away.
Laser Treatments
Laser treatments are another way to destroy the abnormal blood vessels that develop in your eyes when you have diabetes. The laser light zaps the tiny vessels and causes them to die and disappear. Eliminating the rogue vessels in your eyes may prevent or slow down the progression of vision loss.
The treatments for diabetic eye problems are designed to prevent vision loss, not to reverse it. For that reason, you want to have treatments done when they are necessary so you can save your vision for as long as possible. This requires regular visits to your eye doctor for examinations that monitor the progression of your diabetes and its effect on the health of your eyes. For more information, contact companies like Northwest Ophthalmology.