Understanding Diabetic Eye Exam Results From The Artificial Intelligence System
- I received a negative result: A negative result means you do not have a level of diabetic retinopathy that needs to be assessed by an eye doctor right away. You will need to see an eye care specialist promptly if you have blurred vision or other symptoms of vision loss. If there are no vision loss symptoms, retesting in 12 months is recommended.
- I received an image quality insufficient result: In a small number of cases, it is not possible to take a good enough quality picture for the computer system to detect diabetic retinopathy. If this happens, you will be referred to an eye doctor for an eye exam.
- I received a positive result: A positive result means you have a level of diabetic retinopathy that needs to be evaluated by an eye doctor. This may or may not be a level of disease that needs immediate treatment. Only an eye doctor can tell if the disease is severe enough for treatment. A positive result is an important reminder to talk to your doctor about your care plan and ways to help reduce the risk of diabetic retinopathy worsening and possibly causing vision loss.
What Are The Symptoms Of Diabetic Retinopathy
In the early stages, most people experience no signs of diabetic retinopathy. You may not experience vision changes until the condition is severe. For some people, symptoms come and go.
Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy include:
- Blurred or distorted vision.
- Poor night vision .
- Small dark spots or streaks in your vision.
- Trouble reading or seeing faraway objects.
Causes & Risk Factors
Diabetic retinopathy results from the damage diabetes causes to the small blood vessels located in the retina. These damaged blood vessels can cause vision loss:
- Fluid can leak into the macula, the area of the retina responsible for clear central vision. Although small, the macula is the part of the retina that allows us to see colors and fine detail. The fluid causes the macula to swell, resulting in blurred vision.
- In an attempt to improve blood circulation in the retina, new blood vessels may form on its surface. These fragile, abnormal blood vessels can leak blood into the back of the eye and block vision.
Diabetic retinopathy is classified into two types.
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Duration Of Diabetic Retinopathy
There is no cure for diabetic retinopathy, but there is some hope for relief. Mild levels of can be treated with careful diabetes management, says Rishi Singh, MD, a retina specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute in Ohio. This includes a proper diet, exercise, and possibly medication, including injectable insulin. Medical management alone can cause some regression but only in the earliest stages. But even if diabetic retinopathy is treated, future retinal damage and vision loss may occur, since diabetes is a lifelong condition.
If you have an earlier stage of diabetic retinopathy, treatment may not be needed right away and your doctor will monitor your eyes closely. Managing blood sugar appropriately can help slow or stop the progression of this eye disease.
Treatment Options For Diabetic Eye Disease
Your provider will work with you to develop an optimal treatment plan. Two of the most common strategies to manage diabetic eye disease include controlling your diabetes and medical management.
Control your diabetes
We typically recommend three key steps to control your diabetes:
Eye medication
During regular office visits, your ophthalmologist can administer medications directly into the eye. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy is a commonly used medication treatment to reduce retinal swelling and inhibit blood vessel growth in the retina.
Another option is corticosteroid medication, which can reduce inflammation caused by diabetic retinopathy.
Eye surgery
To find out whether you or a loved one might benefit from a check-up with an ophthalmologist, call or request an appointment online.
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Eye Conditions To Watch Out For As You Age
Glaucoma DR can cause new blood vessels to grow in the front of your eye, interfering with the normal flow of fluid out of the eye and leading to a buildup of pressure.
This condition can lead to damage in the optic nerve, the bundle of nerve fibers that transmits visual information from your eye to your brain.
If left untreated, glaucoma may cause permanent blindness.
I Have Eye Pain And A Headache What Should I Do
People experience eye pain and headache often due to refractive errors or eye strain. If you are experiencing these symptoms together, it is recommended that you see an eye specialist to get the problem diagnosed and seek treatment without any delay. Over here our eye specialists talk about the causes of eye pain and headache and what should you do:
Causes of eye pain and headache
What should I do?
If you are experiencing eye pain and headaches, dont try to be your own doctor. See an eye specialist immediately. A comprehensive eye examination can help the eye doctor figure out the cause of these symptoms.
If you are suffering from Diabetes or high blood pressure and havent had an annual comprehensive eye exam for too long, schedule an appointment with our eye specialists.
What you need for your appointment with an eye specialist:
When you meet an eye specialist, be prepared to answer questions about the symptoms you are experiencing. Note all the symptoms on a paper so that you do not miss out any. Be ready to give a quick description of your family medical history. Do tell the eye specialist about the medications you are currently taking.
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Red Eye Fever And Headache
These symptoms can indicate a wide range of conditions include:
- Mumps
- Allergies
- Flu
If youre experiencing red eyes, a fever, and a headache, and youre unable to identify the underlying cause, make an appointment with your doctor. This will be especially important if youve experienced these symptoms for longer than three days with no signs of improvement.
Research And Statistics: How Many People Have Diabetic Retinopathy
According to the National Eye Institute, more than 2 in 5 Americans living with diabetes have some form of diabetic retinopathy.
Whats more, the CDC estimates that from 2010 to 2050, the number of people in the United States living with DR is expected to nearly double from 7.7 million to 14.6 million.
Diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of vision loss and blindness among working-age Americans, the CDC says.
More on Diabetes Facts and Figures
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Know Your Blood Sugar Blood Pressure And Cholesterol Levels
It can be easier to keep your blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control if you know what level they are and monitor them regularly.
The lower you can keep them, the lower your chances of developing retinopathy are. Your diabetes care team can let you know what your target levels should be.
What Is Neovascular Glaucoma
Your eyes have to have a small angle of opening between the cornea and iris. If you have a closed angle, you have what is called neovascular glaucoma. Neovascular glaucoma can develop in people who have diabetes.
The symptoms can vary, starting with minor redness or pain, but as the stages progress, the pain can become more severe, potentially causing headaches.
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How Does Diabetes Affect Your Eyes
Diabetes can lead to blurry vision in several ways.
In some cases, its a minor problem that you can resolve by stabilizing your blood sugar or taking eye drops. Other times, its a sign of something more serious thats worth discussing with your doctor.
In fact, blurred sight is often one of the first warning signs of diabetes.
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Your doctor may also use optical coherence tomography to obtain cross-sectional images of your retinas.
These images can show your doctor the thickness of the retina, which can help determine whether fluid has leaked into retinal tissue.
In addition, your eye doctor may:
- Test your vision
- Check for the presence of cataracts
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Complications Of Diabetic Retinopathy
Complications of diabetic retinopathy can lead to serious vision problems, including:
Vitreous hemorrhage This complication occurs when new blood vessels bleed into the vitreous fluid.
Minor vitreous hemorrhage can cause you to see floaters. With severe vitreous hemorrhage, blood can fill the vitreous cavity and completely block your vision.
This vision loss is temporary and usually clears within a few weeks or months, unless your retina is damaged.
Retinal detachment This condition develops when damaged blood vessels form scar tissue, which pulls your retina away from the back of your eye.
Retinal detachment can cause you to see floaters or flashes of light. If left untreated, it may lead to severe, permanent vision loss.
Ocular And Functional Effects Of Diabetic Retinopathy Can Include Any Or All Of The Following:
- Fluctuating vision in response to changing blood glucose levels vision can change from day to day, or from morning to evening.
- Blurred central vision from macular edema can interfere with reading.
- Irregular patches of vision loss or blind spots can make it difficult to judge the size of food portions on a plate.
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How Can I Protect My Eyes If I Have Diabetes
The best way to prevent diabetes-related eye problems is to manage your blood sugar levels. Remember, the longer your sugar is high, the more likely you are to experience these complications.
Here are a few other tips to help you protect your eyes:
-
Visit an eye doctor once a year so they can dilate your pupils and check your retinas. This will help them catch problems sooner.
-
Wear sunglasses that offer protection from UVA and UVB rays . Exposure to these harmful rays of the sun can speed up cataract development and worsen macular problems.
-
If you have high blood pressure, follow your doctors recommendations to lower it. High blood pressure can increase the pressure in your eyes, worsening glaucoma.
-
Stop smoking. Smoking causes damage to your blood vessels, which can make all of these eye problems worse.
If you notice any vision changes or any unusual symptoms with your eyes see a doctor as soon as possible. You only have one pair of eyes. Take the best care of them you can!
Diabetic Eye Disease Prevention
The best way to prevent diabetes-related eye problems is to manage your blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.Ways you can help prevent eye problems caused by diabetes include:
- Control your blood sugar. Your doctor can provide direction on how to keep your blood sugar normal and avoid fluctuations that can lead to diabetic eye diseases. In addition to getting your eyes checked, its also very important to keep the blood sugars under control, says Cai. This is not only good for you overall, but also good for your eyes.
- Lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. Get recommendations from your doctor on ways you can combat high blood pressure and cholesterol, because these can worsen diabetic eye disease.
- Stop smoking. Smoking can cause further damage to your blood vessels, including the ones in your eyes, so its very important to stop smoking.
- Avoid harmful rays. Protect yourself from the suns harmful ultraviolet rays by wearing sunglasses. Exposure to these rays can speed up the progression of cataracts.
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Why Does One Of My Eyelids Droop More Than The Other
You may have one eyelid that has drooped more than the other ever since you were born. In this case, there is unlikely to be any underlying medical cause. If the drooping eyelid develops later in life, it may be caused by a process occurring only on that side. Possible conditions include a tumor on the eyelid, nerve injury, or an infection.
Symptoms Of Diabetic Retinopathy
You won’t usually notice diabetic retinopathy in the early stages, as it doesn’t tend to have any obvious symptoms until it’s more advanced.
However, early signs of the condition can be picked up by taking photographs of the eyes during diabetic eye screening.
Contact your optician immediately if you experience:
- gradually worsening vision
- shapes floating in your field of vision
- blurred or patchy vision
- eye pain or redness
These symptoms don’t necessarily mean you have diabetic retinopathy, but it’s important to get them checked out. Don’t wait until your next screening appointment.
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Are There Any Ways To Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy
Long-term good blood glucose level management helps to prevent diabetes retinopathy and lower the risk of developing it. Heart disease risk factors also affect retinopathy risk and include stopping smoking, having regular blood pressure and cholesterol checks and undergoing regular eye check-ups.
The risk of developing diabetic retinopathy can be lessened through taking the following precautions:
- Test urine for ketone levels regularly
How Long It Lasts
Benign eye twitching typically only lasts for a few days and resolves on its own. The twitching is often intermittent throughout the day, with periods of rest in between one or a few spasms of the eyelid.
Eye twitching is rarely continuous throughout the day without stopping. Eye twitching that occurs with headaches often lasts until the headache symptoms resolve.
If eye twitching becomes worse or does not go away after one week, you may have a more serious medical condition causing eyelid spasms, tics, or tremors. Potential causes of ongoing eye twitching include:
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Reduce Your Risk Of Diabetic Retinopathy
You can reduce your risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, or help prevent it getting worse, by:
- controlling your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- taking your diabetes medicine as prescribed
- attending all your screening appointments
- getting medical advice quickly if you notice any changes to your vision
Read more about how to prevent diabetic retinopathy.
Tension Headache Eye Pain
Tension headaches are considered the most common type of headache and one that can cause mild to intense pain behind the eyes and in the head and neck. People who experience a tension headache often have more than one headache a week. These headaches are caused by muscle contractions in the neck and head and they can strike for several reasons ranging from food or exercise to stress and poor posture.
Other triggers include:
- Dull pain in the head
- Tender scalp
The pain is usually described as mild to moderate, but in some cases, it can also be severe. Fortunately, the tension headache doesnt share the same type of severe symptoms that are often associated with migraines, such as vomiting and nausea or changes in vision.
Treatment is rather simple. Most over the counter pain medication, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, will work to minimize the pain and discomfort associated with this type of headache. However, overuse of these medications can cause rebound headaches, which can occur when a person has become too accustomed to a certain medication. For some, over the counter medication will not be enough to effectively treat this type of headache. In these cases, a doctor may prescribe:
- Opiates
- Naproxen
- Ketorolac
For chronic headache sufferers, certain treatments can help to reduce the frequency in which they experience them on a daily or weekly basis. Natural treatments can include biofeedback, stress management techniques, and meditation.
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Cluster Headaches And Eye Pain
A cluster headache can strike several times a day. These headaches will hit seemingly out of nowhere and can last for a long length of time. They can also be very painful. Fortunately, this type of headache isnt very common and will affect only one in every thousand people. These headaches typically only affect one side of the head and around the eyes. The eyes can become red and swollen. This is accompanied by an intense feeling of pressure around the eyes. There are several treatment options available, however, there is currently no real cure for cluster headaches and no way to prevent them.
Symptoms can include severe pain that begins abruptly and without warning. Instead of a throbbing pain, this type of pain is described as constant. There will also be ongoing pressure and pain behind the eye on the same side of the head thats affected. The pain will often begin behind the eye, radiating to other areas of the head and can also affect the shoulders and neck. In severe cases, it can also be accompanied by intense pain and pressure in the face.
A person may also experience:
- Drooping of the eyelid
- Nasal pain or stuffiness
- An eye that is red, swollen and watery
At this time, its not clear what can bring about an attack, however, research has shown that it has to do with the activity in the hypothalamus, which is the portion of the brain that controls the bodys thirst, hunger, and temperature.
How Diabetic Retinopathy Is Diagnosed
During your eye exam, your eye doctor will check how well you see the details of letters or symbols from a distance. Your doctor will also look at the retina and inside of your eyes and may use a dye to reveal leaky blood vessels. If it turns out you have diabetic retinopathy, your eye doctor may want to check your vision more often than once a year.
You should be checked for diabetic retinopathy immediately if youre diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. If you have type 1 diabetes, you should be checked within 5 years of your diagnosis and then regularly thereafter, typically every year. The sooner youre treated for diabetic retinopathy, the better that treatment will work.
- Blurring
- Difficulty reading or doing detail work
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