Eye Care - Diabetic Retinopathy Eye Disease

One of the complications that is associated with diabetes is diabetic eye disease and it is critical that you know proper eye care for this eye condition.

There are three different types of diabetic eye disease:

1) Diabetic Retinopathy - A condition where there is damage to all of the blood vessels that are located within the retina.

2) Cataract - Clouding of the lens in the eye which can develop at a much earlier age within people that have diabetes.

3) Glaucoma - An increase of fluid pressure on the inside of the eye which can lead to damage to the optic nerve as well as loss of vision. The majority of people that have diabetes are at a much higher risk for developing glaucoma.

Diabetic retinopathy is the diabetic eye disease that is most common and it is also the main underlying cause of blindness within adults in America. Your good vision is going to depend upon having a healthy retina. Even though diabetic retinopathy might not cause any changes to your vision immediately, over time the disease can develop into a worse condition and may cause you to lose your vision. Normally, this condition will affect both of the eyes.

There are four different stages of diabetic retinopathy eye disease. They are:

1) Proliferative Retinopathy: This is the advanced stage of diabetic retinopathy where if the blood vessels are able to leak any blood, it is possible for severe vision loss to occur.

2) Severe Nonproliferative Retinopathy: This is when a lot more of the blood vessels are being blocked, which is known to deprive several different areas of the retina of their blood supply.

3) Moderate Nonproliferative Retinopathy: This is where some of the blood vessels that normally would nourish the retina are completely blocked as the disease begins to progress.

4) Mild Nonproliferative Retinopathy: This is the earliest stage of this eye disease. Microaneurysms are known to occur during this stage, which are very small balloon-like areas of swelling within the tiny blood vessels within the retina.

How can you protect your vision from this eye disease? Make sure that you at least receive a comprehensive eye exam where your eyes are dilated one time a year. Your eye doctor may also recommend treatment in order to help prevent any progression from occurring. By controlling your cholesterol levels, you can also help to reduce the overall risk of vision loss that is associated with this eye disease.

However, you should keep in mind that proliferative retinopathy eye disease is able to develop without any symptoms and it can put you at high risk for loss of vision. Proper eye care is imperative for those who develop this adverse eye condition.