Do diabetics need to check their eyes frequently? Is it really useful?

The "King of Chronic Diseases" You Don't Know

Daily life about diabetes

Blood sugar is usually well controlled.

Why do doctors always ask for eye examinations?

Frequent dry eyes

Are you seeing blurry or double images?

Attention, diabetics!

What is the relationship between diabetes and eyes?

What is diabetic eye disease?

Diabetes is a common endocrine disease. It sounds like it has nothing to do with the eyes, but it is not. The eye complications caused by diabetes refer to diabetic eye disease, which can affect various structures of the eye, including fluctuating refractive errors, cataracts, glaucoma, uveitis, ocular neuropathy and diabetic retinopathy . Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most serious chronic complications of diabetes and one of the main causes of blindness in diabetics.

About Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy, also known as "diabetic retinopathy", is caused by retinal blood vessel leakage and blockage caused by diabetes, which leads to a series of fundus lesions. In the early stage of the disease, vision is generally not affected, there are no subjective eye symptoms, and it is easy to be ignored . As the disease progresses, it causes varying degrees of vision loss, visual distortion, or flying shadows and flashes in front of the eyes. If the disease reaches the proliferative stage, new blood vessels may bleed into the vitreous body and even cause blindness.

Diabetic cataract

Under high blood sugar conditions, the metabolism of the lens itself will be impaired, metabolic products will accumulate, and the lens fibers will gradually become cloudy, that is, cataracts will occur.

Diabetic cataracts often occur in patients with poor blood sugar control , and their lens can develop into complete opacity within days, weeks or months. Diabetic cataracts progress quickly, and patients often develop blurred vision and decreased vision soon after the onset of the disease, with a significant decrease in vision, leaving only light perception or blindness .

Diabetic glaucoma

Diabetic glaucoma is caused by long-term poor blood sugar control, which leads to insufficient blood and oxygen supply to the retina , causing the formation of new blood vessels in the retina and iris. The new blood vessels adhere to the periphery of the iris, gradually closing the anterior chamber angle. After forming a false angle, the intraocular pressure is high and neovascular glaucoma occurs.

Age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration caused by diabetes generally occurs in middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old. It is mainly related to the patient's long-term chronic light damage to the eyes, metabolism, and malnutrition .

etc.

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Friends with diabetes

The possibility of eye complications is high

So

After being diagnosed with diabetes

Regardless of the type of diabetes

Check and review on time

Pay attention to prevention

Diabetic eye disease requires prompt medical attention

Diabetics should seek medical attention promptly if the following conditions occur:

01Dry eyes and eye pain;

02Blurred vision;

03 Decreased vision, with a significant decrease in night vision or worsening myopia;

04Double vision appears when seeing things;

05 There are blocky shadows floating in front of the eyes;

06 There is a sense of flashing when seeing things;

07Ptosis , eye movement disorders, etc.

Prevention of diabetic eye disease is important

0 1 Check your eye fundus regularly

After being diagnosed, diabetic patients should pay attention to timely fundus examination. Those without lesions should have a fundus examination every year, and those with severe lesions should have a fundus examination every 3 months.

0 2Control blood sugar

Actively and effectively controlling diabetes is the most important measure to prevent diabetic eye disease. The level of blood sugar control is closely related to the occurrence and progression of diabetic complications.

0 3Control blood pressure

Someone once studied two groups of diabetic patients, one with hypertension and the other with normal blood pressure. Hypertension has a higher incidence of fundus lesions. It is very important to control blood pressure on a regular basis. If blood pressure is not well controlled, diabetic eye disease is very likely to occur.

0 4Control blood lipids

Blood lipids are also very important. When patients have severe hyperlipidemia, retinal lipid exudation may occur. If the exudation invades the macula, it can seriously affect vision.

Retinal vein thrombosis caused by hyperlipidemia has very serious consequences and is not easy to be detected early. If the thrombosis occurs in the eye, it may cause retinal blood vessel blockage, causing severe vision loss, and severe vision loss in the elderly can cause blindness.

0 5 Develop good living habits

It is recommended to quit smoking and drinking, eat a balanced diet, exercise appropriately, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Pay attention to eye hygiene and avoid visual fatigue caused by long-term reading and computer use, so as to delay the onset of diabetic retinopathy as much as possible.

The fundus disease specialist at Wuhan University Aier Eye Hospital reminds: In the face of "cunning" diabetic eye diseases, early prevention, early inspection, early detection, and early treatment are needed. Scientific intervention should be carried out before it causes serious damage to visual function to protect the existing visual function. The longer you have diabetes, the higher the chance of developing eye diseases. It is recommended to have a fundus examination as soon as diabetes is diagnosed, and to have the fundus checked at least once a year. If eye problems have been found, regular check-ups should be conducted according to the doctor's advice.