Why Get a Diabetic Eye Exam?

Why Get a Diabetic Eye Exam?

Diabetes is a complicated disease and affects all sorts of functions within the body.  From foot problems to damaged blood vessels to cataracts and glaucoma in the eyes. The eyes are a powerful and obviously an incredibly important organ in your body, so it is important to have regular eye exams when you have diabetes. Read on to learn more about what problems can occur in the eyes that are caused by diabetes. At Vision Care Centre in Langley, we want to give you the best eye care possible, and that includes detecting eye problems related to diabetes. Diabetic Retinopathy This eye condition affects the blood vessels in the retina, which is a light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. This is the most common eye disease that impairs vision and can cause cancer in people who have diabetes. The biggest symptom of diabetes is high blood sugar and this is known to damage tiny blood vessels located in the retina, which leads to diabetic retinopathy. Sending signals through the optic nerve to the brain, the retina detects light and converts it to these signals. With diabetic retinopathy, these blood vessels can leak fluid or hemorrhage, which causes distorted vision. This disease progresses by the blood vessels becoming more and more damaged. First losing the ability to transport blood, then new blood vessels grow, but are weak, thin, and have a high chance of leaking. Scar tissue eventually forms causing the retina to become detached which can cause permanent vision loss. People with diabetes type one and two are at risk for diabetic retinopathy, but the longer one...