What Is Diabetic Retinopathy?

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Diabetic retinopathy is a side effect of diabetes. It may cause blurred vision, vision that seems to fluctuate, dark strings or spots that seem to float across your vision, and eventually vision loss. The more uncontrolled your diabetes, the greater risk you stand of developing retinopathy. However, if you take care to get your condition under control and maintain your blood sugar at safe levels, you may avoid this complication. Your eye doctor in Wilmington, NC, can diagnose and treat diabetic retinopathy.

What Causes Diabetic Retinopathy?

When you have excessive amounts of sugar in your blood, this can interfere with blood flow in the tiny vessels that nourish the retina. As a result, the blood supply is cut off, and your eye attempts to grow new vessels in this area. If the new vessels don’t develop properly, they may leak blood. This can obscure your vision and may also lead to an excess of fluid buildup in your eye. Scar tissue may also develop where new blood vessels attempt to grow. They can cause your retina to detach from the back of the eye.

Do I Have Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy?

If you’re experiencing changes in your vision, it’s time to make an appointment for a comprehensive eye exam. This is especially important if you have a condition such as diabetes or hypertension. Early symptoms of diabetic retinopathy include trouble reading, trouble seeing far away, and trouble seeing at night. Advanced symptoms include seeing unexplained flashes of light as well as the other symptoms listed above. Surprisingly, you may have no symptoms at all if the condition is in its earliest stages.

Can Diabetic Retinopathy Be Treated?

The first step in treating diabetic retinopathy is to bring diabetes under control. Through a healthy diet, daily exercise, and medication, you may be better able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Treatment for this disorder focuses on stopping its progression to prevent total vision loss. A vision specialist is the best choice when it comes to diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders in Wilmington, NC.

Paul Vision Institute Can Help

In Wilmington, NC, Paul Vision Institute can diagnose and treat diabetic retinopathy. Call today to schedule an eye exam and consultation. The sooner this condition is detected and treatment begins, the more successful the outcome.

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Does Diabetes Cause Glaucoma?

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If you are getting treatment for glaucoma in Wilmington, NC, you may be wondering what caused you to get this condition. Glaucoma is a serious condition that can lead to blindness, so it’s vital that you get treatment as soon as possible. But still, questions may linger as to the cause. Diabetes is one possible reason. Here is more information about the connection between diabetes and glaucoma.

Understanding Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a condition where the pressure in your eye increases. This leads to damage of the optic nerve. In turn, your vision will be impaired eventually. Loss of vision usually begins around the periphery of your field of vision. Left untreated, your field of vision becomes less and less until you may be left blind.

Understanding Diabetes

Diabetes is a progressive disease that damages the blood vessels in your body, among other things. The blood vessels in your eyes are responsible for helping to keep your eyes healthy. But with diabetic retinopathy, which is when eye vessels are damaged, the blood vessels in the retina weaken. They can lead to a blockage in the eye’s natural drainage process, which in turn can lead to that build-up of pressure that is associated with glaucoma.

The Connection Between Glaucoma and Diabetes

As you can see, there is a very strong connection between diabetes and glaucoma. If you have diabetes, it’s essential that you seek medical attention to get it under control. However, this in no way diminishes the need to see your eye doctor in Wilmington, NC. In fact, glaucoma can develop for other reasons besides diabetes. And, the sooner you get treatment for glaucoma in Wilmington, NC, the more sight you may save.

Contact your Wilmington, NC eye doctor today for an eye exam that will include a glaucoma test.