You At Your Best

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2017 | OCTOBER - DIABETES NWADG.COM/YOUATYOURBEST | YOU AT YOUR BEST | 15 BY SARAH HANEY NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE There are many secondary diseases that may arise as a result of unmanaged diabetes. One risk is the development of diabetic eye disease. Diabetic eye disease is a group of eye conditions that can affect people with diabetes. This can include diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema (DME), cataracts, and glaucoma. All forms of diabetic eye disease have the potential to cause severe vision loss and blindness. Understanding diabetic eye disease, and diabetic retinopathy in particular, can help men and women with diabetes take the steps necessary to protect their vision before it's too late. Cataracts are often associated with the elderly as age is a significant risk factor. Cataracts are a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. The lens is made largely of water and protein that may begin to clump together and cloud the lens as a person ages. This clouding of the lens can occur at an earlier age in people with diabetes. Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the eye's optic nerve and is also most often associated with the elderly. Even so, men and women with diabetes are twice as likely to develop glaucoma as an adult without diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is a condition that affects the blood vessels in the light- sensitive tissue called the retina that lines the back of the eye. Among people with diabetes, it is the most common cause of vision loss and it is the leading cause of impairment and blindness among working- age adults. Chronically high blood sugar from diabetes can damage the tiny blood vessels in the retina, causing them to leak fluid or hemorrhage, leading to a distortion of vision. There are four stages of diabetic retinopathy, progressing in severity — mild nonproliferative retinopathy, moderate nonproliferative retinopathy, severe nonproliferative retinopathy, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the build-up of fluid in the macula — a region of the retina. The macula is pertinent for straight-ahead vision that used for reading, driving, and in the recognition of faces. About half of all people who have diabetic retinopathy will develop DME and it is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetic retinopathy. If you have type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes, you are at risk for diabetic retinopathy and the risk increases the longer you have diabetes. While 40 to 45 percent of Americans diagnosed with diabetes have some stage of diabetic retinopathy, only about half are aware of it. Diabetic retinopathy often goes unnoticed until it finally affects vision. The disease can be detected with a comprehensive dilated eye exam that includes visual acuity testing (eye chart test), Tonometry (measuring the pressure inside the eye), pupil dilation (allowing a physician to examine the retina and optic nerve), and optical coherence tomography (OCT), which is similar to an ultrasound except it uses light waves instead of sound waves. Early detection and treatment for diabetic eye disease can reduce the risk of blindness by 95 percent. It is suggested that individuals with diabetes received a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once a year since diabetic eye disease often lacks early symptoms. By controlling your diabetes, you can also slow the onset and worsening of diabetic retinopathy. Early detection is key with diabetic eye disease

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