When you have diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or doesn’t use it well enough to keep your blood sugar under control. More than 37 million Americans have diabetes. The two most common types of diabetes are Type 1 diabetes, where the body doesn’t produce insulin, and Type 2 diabetes, where the body doesn’t use insulin effectively.
Diabetes can cause symptoms you notice right away. Your mouth might be dry all the time, you might get really thirsty, and you may have to go to the bathroom constantly. Diabetes can also include problems that develop more slowly, such as diabetic eye disease. Diabetic eye disease isn’t a single condition—instead, it’s a group of eye problems associated with diabetes.
If you or someone you love has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, your best course of action is to learn all you can about the disease and how you can protect your vision over time.
How High Blood Sugar Affects Your Eyes
Having diabetes doesn’t automatically mean you will develop eye problems, but it does put you at a level of higher risk.
When your blood sugar is high, over time you may begin to experience eye problems. For instance, when high blood sugar levels cause the fluids in your eyes to get out of balance, your vision may become blurry. Blurry vision is often temporary and will generally resolve when your blood sugar level lowers, but other effects of diabetes can be permanent.
When you have high blood sugar for a long period of time, it can damage the blood vessels in the retina, a layer in the back part of the eye. These damaged blood vessels can cause your vision to become blurry. Meanwhile, your eye can grow new blood vessels to replace the ones that have become damaged, but these new vessels are not healthy. These new abnormal blood vessels are weaker than the ones they replace. They bleed and cause scarring and high pressure inside your eye.
Different Types of Diabetic Eye Disease
- Cataracts. A common condition among those who have diabetes. Cataracts cause the lenses of your eyes to cloud up. People with diabetes tend to get cataracts earlier in life, and the condition may progress faster than in those who do not have diabetes.
- Diabetic retinopathy. The retina is the part of the eye that sees light and turns it into signals for the brain, allowing you to see what’s around you. When your blood vessels in the eye are damaged by high blood sugar, this occurs in the retina. Diabetic retinopathy affects nearly a third of those over age 40 who have diabetes. In early stages, retinopathy can cause blood vessels in your retina to leak fluid. As the condition advances, new, abnormal blood vessels will grow on the surface of the retina, causing scar tissue to form, leading to vision loss which can be permanent.
- Diabetic macular edema. Whenever you read or watch the road while you drive, you’re using the part of the eye known as the macula. With this condition, your macula swells up, leading to partial vision loss or blindness. Diabetic macular edema is common in those who also have diabetic retinopathy.
- Glaucoma. When blood vessels in the eyes are damaged by high blood sugar, abnormal blood vessels may grow in their place in the back of the eye as mentioned above, and in the front of the eye. These blood vessels in the front of the eye can lead to dangerously high pressure in the eyes. When this pressure builds up, it can block the flow of blood to the optic nerve leading to permanent loss of vision.
How to Protect Your Eyes
If you have diabetes, you’ll want to pay special attention to your eyes, even at a young age. The damage to blood vessels in the eye from diabetes can occur without any symptoms. That is why it is important to get your eyes checked as soon as you are diagnosed with diabetes and return for your regular exams. Vision loss from diabetes is completely preventable with early exams and regular follow-up.
Regular eye exams should be on your list of essential medical appointments. Your diabetes care team can recommend how often you should have a comprehensive eye exam.
Beyond regular eye exams, tell your primary care provider about vision issues you notice. Talk with your provider or an ophthalmologist if you experience symptoms such as blurred vision, difficulty seeing at night, eye-related pain, spots in your vision field or a loss of peripheral vision.
Identifying diabetic eye disease early can allow you to treat the condition before it progresses and permanently damages your vision.
To lower your risk of eye problems, take steps to properly manage diabetes and keep your blood sugar in a healthy range. This will include healthy lifestyle habits like regular exercise, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and possibly prescription medications to lower high blood sugar.Â
More to Read
- What Is a Healthy Lifestyle?
- Medical Nutrition Therapy for Diabetes Management
- Staying Hydrated When You Have Diabetes
- Is It Safe to Exercise After Taking Insulin?
Medically reviewed by Lisa S. Schocket, MD.
