Diabetic Retinopathy: Symptoms, Causes, Preventative Measures, & What To Do If You Have It
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are difficult enough to manage on their own. Both types can cause weight gain, heart complications, and a decrease in natural immunity to infection and disease.
But there are other complications that can arise from prolonged high blood sugar levels. One of them is diabetic retinopathy, which affects your ability to see. In advanced cases, it can even result in blindness.
In this article, we will discuss what diabetic retinopathy is, the symptoms to look out for, the causes, preventative measures to take, and what you should do if you are already suffering from this condition.
What Is Diabetic Retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition where the high sugar content in your blood begins to affect the function of the blood vessels behind your eye.
There are two types of this condition. The first is slightly milder and more common than the second and if caught, can is easier for you and your doctor to treat. The second type, however, is severe and can cause blindness.
Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
Nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NDPR) is when new blood vessels are no longer forming in your retina. When this happens, the walls of the blood vessels weaken and bulge, and then they leak fluid and blood into the retina. This leakage leads to a buildup of fluid in the center, or macula, of the retina, which in turn causes a decrease in vision.
Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
This type is a more advanced version of NDPR and may occur if the latter is allowed to go on without treatment. In proliferative diabetic retinopathy, the blood vessels in the retina close off completely. As a result, new, deformed blood vessels begin to grow.
These abnormal blood vessels tear extremely easily. When they do, they leak blood into the jelly-like substance in the center of your eye called vitreous. Over time, the scar tissue from the breaking blood vessels may cause the retina to detach.
Furthermore, if the eye is unable to proceed with its natural course of flowing fluid away from it, this fluid will build up behind the eye. The resulting pressure may cause damage to the optic nerve and glaucoma, the scientific term for blindness caused by damage to your optic nerve.
What Are The Symptoms?
As you can see, it’s important to catch early symptoms of diabetic retinopathy so that it does not advance to the proliferative stage.
Below are common symptoms to look out for if you are diabetic or have high blood sugar.
Floaters, or tiny dark spots and “strings” that float across your vision
Blurred vision
Frequent changes in your vision
Dark or empty areas in your sight
Complete loss of vision
A couple of these symptoms may not be easy to recognize at first. For example, most people have floaters in their vision. It’s not normally a cause for concern. Blurred vision can also occur with rubbing your eye, not cleaning your contacts properly, or staying awake too long.
That’s why it’s important to go to the eye doctor and get your vision checked at least once or twice a year. An optometrist can detect issues that you may not even be aware of. They can also perform tests to gauge the health and function of your optic nerve.
If you experience any sort of vision loss, whether it’s total or just certain areas of your sight, see your optometrist immediately. Either of these may mean detachment of the retina, for which speed is essential to repair it.
What Causes It?
There is one primary cause for diabetic retinopathy: high blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia. Since diabetes is a condition where the body can no longer produce enough insulin on its own to process sugar or glucose, it is diabetics who typically suffer from this vision problem.
Hyperglycemia takes a surprising toll on the human body and its component parts. It damages blood vessels, nerves, and organs. It can necessitate limb amputation or cause life-threatening heart problems. And, as we have learned, it can cause partial or total loss of vision.
Diabetes on its own may not produce retinopathy, but there are certain risk factors that can increase your chances of developing it.
If you have had diabetes for a long time or don’t do a particularly good job of controlling your hyperglycemia, you are at a far greater risk of developing retinopathy.
Furthermore, if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, are pregnant, smoke or chew tobacco, or are Black, Hispanic, or Native American, the threat of retinopathy increases even further.
If you are diabetic and fall into any of the above categories, it is critical that you begin taking preventative measures.
What Preventative Measures Can I Take?
While you can’t necessarily remove the risk for diabetic retinopathy, you can always start taking preventative measures to reduce the risk.
Below are 5 actions you can take right away to improve your overall health, as well as the health of your retinal blood vessels.
Keep Your Diabetes Under Control
The primary cause of diabetic retinopathy is high blood sugar. Therefore, it makes sense to tackle the root of that problem first.
Keeping your diabetes under control includes taking your insulin regularly. If you experience any hyperglycemia symptoms, you may need to talk to your doctor about adjusting your insulin dose or changing your diet.
In addition, try to cut out excess sugar as much as possible to keep your glucose levels from spiking. That means cutting out sodas and sweets, and some fruits and grains. Choose foods that are low impact, meaning they will not cause your blood sugar to shoot up.
Exercise And Get Your Blood Flowing
Exercising regularly will increase the flow of oxygen in your blood, which in turn makes the blood healthier. Exercise also helps the blood flow throughout your entire body, including your retinas.
This preventative measure also helps reduce high blood pressure, which is a contributing factor to diabetic retinopathy. As if that wasn’t enough, it helps reduce obesity, which is a contributing factor for diabetes and hyperglycemia.
By treating the root causes of both diabetic retinopathy and diabetes, you exponentially decrease your chances of developing vision problems.
Eat Healthy Foods To Lower Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a vital component in your body because it helps it build healthy cells. But if it gets too high, usually from an unhealthy diet, it can form deposits in your blood vessels and block blood from flowing through. They can also break apart and form clots, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
It’s easy to see the reason high cholesterol is a risk factor for the development of diabetic retinopathy. It can cause blockage or clots in the blood vessels in your retinas, which is followed by damaging your optic nerve.
To reduce your high cholesterol, consume less trans and saturated fats. Instead, consume monosaturated fats in the form of olive oil and avocados, as well as fruits, vegetables, and grains that don’t contain much fat at all.
Don’t Smoke (Or Stop If You Do)
According to the CDC, smoking increases the amount of plaque in your blood. Too much plaque can block blood vessels and cause clots.
For this and other obvious reasons, such as the increased risk of lung cancer, it’s important to not take up smoking or to stop if you already have. It can lead to the blockage of blood vessels in your retinas, not to mention your heart and other vital organs.
What Should I Do If I Already Have It?
If you already have diabetic retinopathy, the stage you’re in will determine the treatments available to you.
Treatments For Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (NPDR)
At this early stage of the condition, your doctor’s main priority will be to improve your blood sugar levels. Taking the preventative measures, which we discussed earlier in this article will help slow or stop the retinopathy’s progression.
The advanced stage, however, requires more drastic treatments.
Treatment For Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
There are 4 main types of treatment that your doctor may use, separately or in tandem, to treat your proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
Medication Injections
This method involves injecting medication directly into the eye. The drug is called a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor, which is a long fancy term that means it will inhibit the growth of new blood vessels and reduce fluid buildup in the eye.
Injections usually need to be repeated, so if this is a treatment your doctor uses, expect to receive it multiple times. It is painless at first thanks to a topical anesthetic, but it can cause irritation and burn in your eyes for the first 24 hours after injection.
Photocoagulation
Photocoagulation uses lasers to repair leaks or holes in the blood vessels in your eye. This prevents fluid and blood from continuously leaking into the vitreous. It is usually used to prevent your retinopathy from getting worse.
This procedure is typically performed at the eye clinic, so you won’t have to be hospitalized.
Panretinal Photocoagulation
Panretinal photocoagulation is a little more advanced than normal photocoagulation. It uses lasers to shrink and scar the abnormal blood vessels in your retina, so they do not overinflate and increase the pressure behind your eye.
This procedure is also done at the eye clinic, but you may have to go back more than once to complete it.
Vitrectomy
A vitrectomy must be performed at a hospital or surgery center. It involves cutting an incision in the middle of your eye to drain blood and scar tissue from the vitreous and the retina.
Is Diabetic Retinopathy Reversible?
Keep in mind that none of these treatments are permanent solutions. They do not reverse diabetic retinopathy on their own. They do not make your hyperglycemia go away, nor do they reduce high cholesterol or high blood pressure. These conditions depend on you, your lifestyle, and how you treat them.
That’s why it’s always important to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and stay on top of your insulin treatment. These simple steps can prevent further damage to your vision.
Conclusion: Monitor Your Vision And See Your Doctor If Anything Changes
You are the first line of defense against diabetes retinopathy. Monitor your vision and if you notice any changes, such as an increase in floaters or blurred or lost vision, make an appointment with your optometrist as soon as possible.
