Your sugar and your eyes: Understand the complications – The Times of India

High blood sugar in diabetes causes the lens of the eye to swell, which changes your ability to see. To correct this kind of eye problem, you need to get your blood sugar back into the target range. It may take as long as three months after your blood sugar is well controlled for your vision to fully get back to normal.

The most serious eye condition associated with diabetes involves the network of blood vessels supplying the retina. This condition is called diabetic retinopathy, if not treated in time proliferative retinopathy may lead to blindness.

The changes in blood sugar levels resulting from diabetes can affect the lens inside your eye, especially when diabetes is uncontrolled. This can result in blurring of vision which comes and goes over the day, depending on your blood sugar levels.

Not everyone who has diabetes develops an eye complication. Of those that do, many people have a very mild form of retinopathy which may never progress to a sight-threatening condition.

Most of the eye complications in diabetes can be treated, but it is vital that they are diagnosed early. They can only be detected by a detailed examination of your eye carried out at a specialist eye centre. As you may not have any symptoms related to eyes, an annual retinal screening is essential. Research shows that if eye problems are identified early, through retinal screening, and treated appropriately, blindness can be prevented in 90 per cent of those at risk.

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