Are you aware that diabetes is the dominant causal factor of impaired sight of adults between age twenty and seventy-four? If not, you are not alone. As of 2008, over four million individuals in North America living with diabetes were tested positive for blindness caused by diabetes. Of this group, seventy thousand suffered from acute diabetic retinopathy, which can result in untreatable blindness.
Exactly, how crucial is it to get examined for diabetic retinopathy?
Having a diagnosis of diabetes is the first risk factor. The best way to learn if you have diabetes related vision loss is to have your optometrist perform an eye exam regularly. The longer the disease goes unmonitored, the stronger the danger of diabetes caused vision loss. Speedy treatment will go a long way in halting further loss.
Expectant mothers that have been afflicted with diabetes have a greater risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. It is crucial to have a complete dilated eye exam after diagnosis as well.
Maybe you are wondering, why all the panic? Wouldn't there be obvious symptoms if you were losing your sight?
The answer shockingly is, not necessarily. There are many forms of diabetic retinopathy, and only those which are in the acute stages are obvious. Advanced diabetes might have no signs. Macular edema is another diabetes related disease which results in severe vision loss. Both conditions may appear without any noticeable signs. This is a reason that early recognition is essential to stopping any irreversible loss.
A comprehensive evaluation will discern signs of diabetic retinopathy. There are individual stages to this exam which will detect the standard symptoms, including damaged nerve tissue, swelling of the retina, the presence of fatty deposits on the retina, and leaky blood vessels. What is entailed in a complete eye exam?
The eye doctor will perform a visual acuity exam by means of an eye chart that is used to assess how accurately you see at varying distances. This is just like the visual acuity checks given by your eye doctor, if you require corrective lenses.
In a dilated eye exam, the optometrist puts drops in your eyes to widen your pupils. Not a particularly beloved test by the squeamish, it can stop a loss of autonomy in 10-15 years. This practice makes it easier to see more of the interior portion of your eyes to identify for distinct clues that show the likelihood of diabetic retinopathy. The momentary discomfort could save your ability to see.
Regularly monitor your sight. Even a little laziness can cause severe loss. If you have been diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it is of the utmost importance to plan an eye examination with an optometrist as soon as possible.