If you suffer from diabetes, it’s crucial that you visit your eye doctor in Chicago regularly for eye exams and eye care. Diabetes increases your risk of developing dangerous and permanent eye complications, and diabetes complications can even result in blindness. Here is a look at some common eye complications of diabetes.
Glaucoma
Once you have been diagnosed with diabetes, your risk of developing glaucoma increases by 40%. Your risk continues to increase with age, and depending upon how long you have had diabetes. Glaucoma is caused by a build up of pressure in the eyes, which causes the fluid in the eye to drain slowly and build up in the anterior chamber. This pressure can irritate or damage the blood vessels in the eye. Over time, the blood vessels become less effective at carrying blood to the retina and optic nerve, and this blood vessel damage may lead to vision loss. Your ophthalmologist may recommend medication or eye surgery to treat glaucoma.
Cataracts
People with diabetes are 60% more likely to develop cataracts than people who don’t have diabetes. If you have diabetes, you are also more likely to develop cataracts at a much younger age, and the condition may progress faster. Cataracts cause the lens of the eye to become clouded, resulting in poor vision, light sensitivity, and progressive vision problems. Your eye doctor may first recommend conservative cataract treatment via eyeglasses or contact lenses. If your cataracts are severe or aren’t remedied by vision correction, your eye doctor will refer you to a cataract surgeon for cataract surgery.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most serious eye complications resulting from diabetes. The condition includes two different forms of eye problems: nonproliferative and proliferative retinopathy. Nonproliferative retinopathy causes the capillaries in the back of the eye to swell, and the blood vessels become blocked as a result. Proliferative retinopathy occurs when an eye doctor doesn’t treat nonproliferative retinopathy and the condition progresses. Proliferative retinopathy causes progressively worse damage to the blood vessels, eventually leading to retinal detachment or blindness.