How to Identify Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition that results from complications related to diabetes and uncontrolled blood sugar. Blood vessels in the retina become swollen and damaged and can eventually leak into the eye during the advanced stages of retinopathy. The condition causes annoying visual disturbances in its middle stages and can lead to complete blindness if left unchecked. In its earliest stages, you may not experience any symptoms at all.
- Visit your eye doctor for an eye exam every year. Retinopathy does not display many symptoms in its early stages, but if your eye doctor has a baseline to compare your test results to, he may be able to detect retinopathy in its earliest stages. The primary test to diagnose retinopathy involves dilating the pupils of your eyes so your eye doctor can examine as much of the retina as possible.
- Check your blood sugar regularly. Higher blood sugar levels, particularly over a prolonged time frame, can contribute to and worsen diabetic retinopathy. Proper blood sugar control is one of your strongest tools in preventing diabetic retinopathy from progressing rapidly.
- Pay attention to both subtle and sudden changes to your vision. Because retinopathy involves changes to the blood vessels in your eyes, there are a variety of visual disturbances you might experience. Vision loss or blurriness, spots floating across your field of vision, decreased night vision and an inability to tell the difference between colors are all signs you may experience in small doses or as a sudden change to your vision.
- Contact your eye doctor if you are concerned that you may be developing retinopathy. He can run tests, and if you have been keeping up with your yearly visits, he can compare the results with your previous tests to determine if there has been a change in your vision.