How important is it for diabetic patients to have regular fundus examinations?

In addition to the serious impact on the kidneys, heart, blood vessels, etc., diabetes can also cause harm to the eyes. There are many types of eye complications caused by diabetes, and in severe cases there is a risk of blindness. For diabetic patients, regular fundus examinations are very important.

What is the fundus?

The fundus commonly referred to clinically refers to the internal structure of the eyeball from the lens to the back, including the retina, fundus blood vessels, optic nerve head, optic nerve fibers, macula on the retina, and choroid behind the retina.

It is also a place where arteries, veins and capillaries can be directly observed with the naked eye. These blood vessels can reflect the state of blood circulation and health of the human body. Therefore, many systemic diseases can be reflected through the fundus.

Due to abnormal pancreatic islet function, diabetic patients cannot convert blood sugar into glycogen, so it can only be retained in the blood vessels and form hyperglycemia. Long-term hyperglycemia can damage blood vessels and nerves. Our fundus has abundant microvessels. When the fundus microvessels are damaged by hyperglycemia, vision will gradually deteriorate.

Diabetes can cause a variety of eye complications, including diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, diabetic cataracts, paralytic strabismus, etc. Among them, diabetic retinopathy is more common and is also one of the important causes of blindness in diabetic patients.

Tianjin University Aier Eye Hospital kindly reminds you that due to the subtle lesions in the early stage, which have little impact on visual quality, it is difficult for patients to detect them. If you wait until your vision is severely reduced or even blind, then come for a check-up, it is often too late. Visual function damage is irreversible in most cases, so diabetic patients must undergo fundus examinations regularly.