created: 29.09.2004
last modified: 29.09.2004
Compared to a healthy person, a diabetic runs 25 times the risk of going blind: diabetes is the disease that leads to blindness more than any other disease in the western industrialised world.
But: No diabetic needs to go blind any more these days. Blindness can be prevented in practically almost every case - given that the treatment happens in time and professionally.
Watch your blood and glucose level
The worst diabetic eye disease is the diabetic disease of the retina (retinopathy). You can prevent it by paying attention to the risk factors: The blood glucose level should be normalised as well as the blood pressure. Is your blood pressure higher than 140/90 mmHg? Then it should be treated with medication in any case.
Not every diabetic goes to the ophthalmologist (eye doctor) regularly to carefully check his status of the retina at the ocular background after the widening of the pupil. This should happen:
For diabetics it is especially important, to recognise endangered eye zones:
They have to be taken care of equally in the laser therapy so the stimulus for vascular rebuilding stops. Rebuilt blood vessels in the ocular background mean an advanced stage of diabetic retinopathy. It leads to strong bleedings, often also into the vitreous body. The light conduction inside the eye gets irritated and impaired vision is the result.
What can I do?
