Over 11% of Americans suffer from diabetes. A diabetes diagnosis typically results in a change of lifestyle and health routines, but did you know diabetes can pose a danger to your eye health? There are a few diabetes-related ocular complications to be aware of, such as diabetic macular edema, changes in vision, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts.

Diabetic Macular Edema

Diabetes has been known to potentially cause edema, or “swelling,” of the macula. The macula is responsible for the central part of your vision, without which you cannot make out a lot of detail. If left undiagnosed and/or untreated, diabetic macular edema could cause scarring to your macula and permanent vision loss.

Sudden Changes in Vision

Blood glucose level fluctuations can often cause the lens inside of your eye to change, which can make your vision change exponentially. This might make you believe you need to update your eye prescription, but in all actuality, it is the diabetes preventing your eyes from working properly. Having a sudden dramatic change in your vision is never good, but it can serve as the first detectable sign that you might have diabetes.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Approximately one out of three diabetic adults is affected by this condition. Diabetic retinopathy is considered to be the most severe of all diabetes-related ocular complications. It affects the small blood vessels in the retina, which can lead to potential blindness or, at the very least, major vision complications if left untreated. Unfortunately, the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy increases the longer someone has diabetes. This risk is only worsened if the person with diabetes exercises poor blood glucose level control.

Glaucoma and Cataracts

Diabetes raises the risk of developing glaucoma by approximately 40% and cataracts by 60%. It is possible that diabetes might accelerate the progression of each of these conditions, making them even more damaging to your eyes.

It is important to schedule regular eye health examinations even if eye symptoms aren’t manifesting themselves, especially if you knowingly have diabetes because of the increased risk of eye disease. It is best to catch ocular complications caused by diabetes early to halt damage to your vision as much as possible, but diabetes-related ocular complications don’t always produce symptoms that are visible to you right away, making the need to have routine eye exams with your eye doctor all the more important.