Eye Exams And Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a typical complication of diabetes, in which abnormally high blood sugar levels lead to retinal damage, vision loss or blindness.
If we detect the early signs of diabetic retinopathy during your comprehensive eye exam at Cove Eyecare, you can start making lifestyle changes immediately, such as tighter blood glucose management, exercise and a healthy diet, to prevent the disease from progressing. By visiting for regular dilated eye exams, our eye doctor can monitor your symptoms and work with you to design a modern treatment plan to slow or reverse vision loss.
Food To Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy
A list of nutrition values important for the eye is mentioned below with the food items they are found in. The list is also important to avoid diabetic retinopathy:
- Vitamin A: leafy greens, sweet potato, carrots, fish, eggs, and pumpkin
- Vitamin C: broccoli, cabbage, oranges, sweet peppers, kiwi, papaya, and strawberry
- Vitamin E: sunflower seeds, fish, and almonds
- Lutein: spinach, corns, peas, green leafy vegetables
- Zinc: seafood, pumpkin seeds, lean meat, fish
- Selenium: fish, seafood, nuts, and seeds
Natural intake of these nutrients are highly suggested and not supplements.
Which Specialties Of Doctors Treat Diabetic Eye Disease
Ophthalmology is the specialty of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease. The ophthalmologist is the appropriate person to both diagnose and treat diabetic eye disease.
Some ophthalmologists limit their practice to diseases of the retina. A general ophthalmologist can decide whether or not the specific patient requires an evaluation by a subspecialist in retinal disease.
People with diabetes also will be cared for by their family doctor or internal medicine specialist and other subspecialists as needed.
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What Happens With Diabetes In Dogs
Diabetes in dogs occurs when the bodyfails to produce adequate stores of insulin. Typically, the bodyconverts foods eaten by a dog into glucose. The pancreas produces theinsulin necessary to move glucose to the cells within the blood stream.With diabetes, dogs’ pancreases fail to produce insulin causing systemfailure because nothing is getting the glucose it needs to convert toenergy.
Soon the brain sends your dog a messageto eat more because the cells need glucose. While it can’t get glucose,the body instead burns through muscle and fat stores in a desperateattempt to get energy to the cells. The glucose is trapped in thebloodstream because there is no insulin. Eventually, the excess glucosemakes its way into the urinary tract taking water with it. This leadsto the feelings of dehydration that causes a diabetic dog to drink somuch.
As the body continues to use muscle andfat for energy, organs are affected. Soon a number of other healthissues arise, including diabetes related blindness.
How Diabetes Can Affect The Eyes
The retina is the light-sensitive layer of cells at the back of the eye that converts light into electrical signals. The signals are sent to the brain which turns them into the images you see.
The retina needs a constant supply of blood, which it receives through a network of tiny blood vessels.
Over time, a persistently high blood sugar level can damage these blood vessels in 3 main stages:
- background retinopathy tiny bulges develop in the blood vessels, which may bleed slightly but do not usually affect your vision
- pre-proliferative retinopathy more severe and widespread changes affect the blood vessels, including more significant bleeding into the eye
- proliferative retinopathy scar tissue and new blood vessels, which are weak and bleed easily, develop on the retina this can result in some loss of vision
However, if a problem with your eyes is picked up early, lifestyle changes and treatment can stop it getting worse.
- eye pain or redness
- difficulty seeing in the dark
These symptoms do not necessarily mean you have diabetic retinopathy, but it’s important to get them checked out.
Do not wait until your next screening appointment.
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How Do You Treat A Blind Dog Suddenly
For dogs who have lost their sight, maintaining routines as much as possible can help them adjust. Keep your furniture in the same spots to make it easier for your dog to navigate your home. If you redecorate, or when you bring your dog to a new place, bring them carefully around the area to show them obstructions.
What Is Diabetic Retinopathy
To understand diabetic retinopathy, you first need a grasp of how diabetes affects your body as a whole.
Both type I and type II diabetes mellitus result in your body being unable to process glucose the right way. While were all familiar with the results of low blood sugar , high blood sugar causes problems too. Having too much glucose in your bloodstream for a long amount of time damages your muscles, tissues, and blood vessels.
Some of the smallest and most delicate blood vessels in your body are in charge of supplying the backs of your eyes with oxygen and nutrients. When those blood vessels are damaged, the cells around them can start to die.
The back of your eye is called the retina, and its in charge of sending sight messages to your brain. When light enters your eye, it bounces off the retina and special light-sensitive cells relay that information through the optic nerve. If those cells start to die off, your retina cant send a clear image to your brain anymore, and this results in vision loss.
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Myths About Diabetes And Vision Loss
By Amanda Springstroh RN, quality care coordinator at Network Health Originally published on 10/29/2020 at 8:15 a.m.
Diabetes is a condition that tens of millions of people live with here in the United States. Its also one of the most commonly misunderstood conditions.
There are several myths about diabetes and what its like to live with this chronic condition. Lets look at some of these myths and address the relationship between diabetes and blindness a common element to many myths and misconceptions.
Diabetes Is Harder To Live With Than Prediabetes
Though people with prediabetes are already at a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, they dont yet have to manage the serious health problems that come with diabetes.
Diabetes affects every major organ in the body. People with diabetes often develop major complications, such as kidney failure, blindness, and nerve damage . Some studies suggest that diabetes doubles the risk of depression, and that risk increases as more diabetes-related health problems develop. All can sharply reduce quality of life.
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Do All Dogs With Diabetes Go Blind
1 in 10 dogs will become diabetic in their lifetime, and 75% of diabetic dogs will eventually go blind. Affected dogs often lose their sight within five to six months of being diagnosed. Vision loss from diabetes can occur quickly. With complete vision loss occurring within 48 hours of the first symptom.
How Does Diabetes Affect A Dogs Eyes
One of the most prevelant side effects of diabetes in dogs are cataracts and eventual blindness. In fact, about 75% of diabetic dogs will develop cataracts within the first year of diagnosis. Contrary to popular belief, a cataract isnt a clouding of the eye lensits a clouding of the sack that holds the lens.
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Coping With Losing Your Sight
Diabetes is the leading cause of preventable sight loss in the UK. You can prevent it by going to regular eye screening, and because there are much better treatments available for both diabetes and retinopathy.
But sight loss does happen and this is extremely difficult for anyone to deal with. This is life-changing.
Many people do find a way to cope, and carry on to live happy, rewarding lives. Know that were here to help you and there is expert support out there to help you through it youre not alone.
You can talk to the RNIB . They are one of the UKs leading sight loss charities and the largest community of blind and partially sighted people. They provide a fantastic amount of practical and emotional support, including specifically set up to your needs.
Some people who develop sight loss may also experience sight hallucinations, where you see things that arent necessarily there. This is called Charles Bonnet Syndrome . It can occur in people with over 60% sight loss. Seeing things that arent there, can be very frightening. For more information on CBS visit Esme’s Umbrella.
And remember, you can give our trained counsellors a call, for more information and support, or just to chat. Were here for you.
Can Diabetes Cause Blindness
Blindness is strictly defined as the state of being sightless in both eyes. A completely blind individual is unable to see at all. The word blindness, however, is commonly used as a relative term to signify visual impairment, or low vision, meaning that even with eyeglasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery, a person does not see well.
Diabetic eye disease can cause permanent visual loss, which may be mild or severe. Given modern treatment options, it is unusual today for diabetic eye disease to cause the total inability to see. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema, if untreated can result in significant loss of vision.
What are the symptoms of blindness?
Blindness from diabetic eye disease is similar to blindness from other causes. All people who are blind or have visual impairment have the common symptom of difficulty seeing. People with similar levels of visual loss may have very different responses to that symptom.
If one is born blind, there is much less adjustment to a non-seeing world than there is for people who lose their vision late in life, where there may be limited ability to cope with that visual loss.
Support systems available to individuals and their psychological makeup will also modify the symptom of lack of sight. People who lose their vision suddenly, rather than for years, also can have more difficulty adjusting to their visual loss.
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Do I Need To Follow Up With My Doctor After Being Diagnosed With Diabetic Eye Disease
If you or someone you know has diabetes and mild diabetic eye disease, follow-up examinations with an ophthalmologist every year may be all that is necessary.
If the person has a more serious disease, more frequent follow-up appointments with an ophthalmologist are required based on the severity of the disease.
What Treatments Are Available
The best treatment is to keep your diabetes and blood pressure under control.
Depending on the extent of the disease, you may need laser surgery to seal leaking blood vessels or to discourage other blood vessels from leaking. Your ophthalmologist might need to inject medications into the eye to decrease inflammation or stop the formation of new blood vessels. People with advanced cases of diabetic retinopathy might need a surgical procedure to remove and replace the gel-like fluid in the back of the eye, called the vitreous. Surgery may also be needed to repair a retinal detachment. This is a separation of the light-receiving lining in the back of the eye.
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Dear Friends And Neighbors
CentraCare care givers have been working around the clock for more than 20 months to care for you, your families and friends during COVID. We are committed to caring for every Minnesotan who needs us, and nothing will prevent us from doing so even during these never-seen-before times.
The challenge of providing this level of care is that our hospital beds are often full. ERs in all of our hospitals are packed. And our clinical teams are exhausted. Early in the pandemic, our community stepped up in amazing ways to help us. We ask that you again join us in fighting this pandemic together.
How can you help?
- Please get your COVID vaccines and booster shots. They are proven safe and effective in reducing COVID illness, keeping people out of the hospital, and preventing death.
- If your situation is not an emergency, please use other care options, including:
Together, we can do this. Thank you for your support.
Ken Holmen, MD
Can You Stop Cataracts Developing In A Diabetic Dog
Controlling the blood sugar levels is key to reducing the development of cataracts in a diabetic dog. It may take some time to control diabetes in dogs, as there can be many complicating factors. Its important to keep the routine that you take on including feeding, exercise and insulin as regular as possible to reduce the risk of blood sugar highs and lows.
Once the blood glucose levels are under control, it is possible to operate on diabetic dogs with mature cataracts to restore their vision. Even if surgery is not possible, most dogs will be able to adapt to living without vision. A dog’s senses of smell and hearing are very well developed and they can still live a happy, sense-filled life.
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Can Dr Be Treated/reversed
Fortunately, diabetic retinopathy is preventable and also treatable. Maintaining blood sugar at an optimal level can help to prevent this serious condition. As controlled diabetes can also lead to diabetic retinopathy, it is advised to have your eyes examined regularly. This way, your ophthalmologist can diagnose and treat any retinal damage as early as possible. Also, reversing diabetic retinopathy is very much possible when this vision-threatening condition is detected in the early stages.
Diabetes Blindness Reversible Blood Sugar Support
Diabetes can be a challenging thing to deal with. There especially can be many battles when a individual is newly diagnosed, but the main one is being in denial about it. Some people may get terrific blood sugar control with diet plan and physical fitness only, however then only having glucose examined when at the physicians see. Another struggle might be the lack of interest, products or care to inspect that glucose at least once a day.
For lots of people with diabetes, food is the greatest struggle. The millions of us who have ever tried a diet plan know how difficult it is to change how we consume. Diabetes is filled with food misconceptions, so most need assist understanding whats real and whats not. Your money and time will be well spent if you decide to get some education from a registered dietitian or a licensed diabetes teacher.
No matter how you or a loved one is fighting with diabetes, theres constantly hope in those battles disappearing or getting better. Were here to help do just that! Initially, lets dive a little deeper into the depths of this illness and get a food understanding of what everything suggests.
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The Surprising Truth About Prediabetes
Its real. Its common. And most importantly, its reversible. You can prevent or delay prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes with simple, proven lifestyle changes.
Amazing but true: approximately 88 million American adults1 in 3have prediabetes. Whats more, more than 84% of people with prediabetes dont know they have it. Could this be you? Read on to find out the facts and what you can do to stay healthy.
Evidence Shows You Can Reverse Diabetic Complications With Strict Diabetes Control And A Healthy Lifestyle
Its long been known that diabetic complications, such as diabetic retinopathy, can be slowed by taking severe control of blood sugar levels and making healthy lifestyle changes. However, theres also evidence to suggest that complications can actually be reversed. It appears that as long as the right conditions are met, the body can heal some of the damage.
If you have diabetes, we recommend regular visits to our eye care practice in Copperas Cove, Texas, for an eye exam to inspect for diabetic retinopathy and other types of diabetic eye disease. Remember, when caught early, diabetic eye disease is treatable!
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What Can I Do To Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy
Managing your diabetes is the best way to lower your risk of diabetic retinopathy. That means keeping your blood sugar levels in a healthy range. You can do this by getting regular physical activity, eating healthy, and carefully following your doctors instructions for your insulin or other diabetes medicines.
To make sure your diabetes treatment plan is working, youll need a special lab test called an A1C test. This test shows your average blood sugar level over the past 3 months. You can work with your doctor to set a personal A1C goal. Meeting your A1C goal can help prevent or manage diabetic retinopathy.
Having high blood pressure or high cholesterol along with diabetes increases your risk for diabetic retinopathy. So controlling your blood pressure and cholesterol can also help lower your risk for vision loss.
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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Prediabetes Flies Under The Radar
You can have prediabetes for years but have no clear symptoms, so it often goes undetected until serious health problems show up. Thats why its important to talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested if you have any of the risk factors for prediabetes, which include:
- Being overweight
- Being 45 years or older
- Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes
- Being physically active less than 3 times a week
- Ever having gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
Race and ethnicity are also a factor: African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk.
Ready to find out your risk? Take the 1-minute prediabetes risk test and be sure to share the results with your doctor.