| Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy |
 One of the potential complications of diabetes is diabetic retinopathy, which damages the blood vessels in the retina in the eye. Diabetic retinopathy affects those with both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.Diabetic eye diseases are:
The onset of diabetic retinopathy is influenced by how long one has had diabetes, if the diabetes is poorly controlled, high blood pressure, lipid abnormalities, kidney disease or congestive heart failure. There are often no symptoms in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy. Even in more advanced cases, the disease may progress a long way without symptoms. Those with diabetes are 25 times more likely than the general population to go blind. While the cause of retinopathy is not known, it does not occur in isolation. Diabetic retinopathy is impacted by the overall health of the individual; hence diabetes information, diabetes management and regular eye examinations for people with diabetes is key to prevention. Those with type 1 diabetes should have a yearly eye exam beginning five years after diabetes diagnosis. Those with type 2 diabetes should receive an eye exam at the time of diagnosis and then yearly. Daily self-management, including attention to an appropriate diet, exercise, adherence to medications and blood glucose monitoring, is the key to good health. Complications can be avoided by asking your doctor how often you need your hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level checked. The HbA1c is a measure of average blood glucose during the previous 2 to 3 months, LDL cholesterol (lower than 100) and blood pressure (less than 130/80) levels. For diabetes information, there is a free educational resource about controlling diabetes from Penn State Hershey References: 1. The Medical Minute: Diabetic eye. Penn State Hershey. November 2008. 2. National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. More Diabetes Related Articles
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