Blurred vision

Blurred Vision In Diabetics

If you are one of the almost eighteen million people diagnosed with diabetes then you are aware of the symptoms of the disease which may affect your eyes and your vision. A diabetic must be extremely careful to listen to their body’s reactions to blood sugar levels, to help prevent serious complications that may lead to total blindness. In order to better understand the visual symptoms of diabetes, you must first understand how diabetes affects the eyes and tissues.

Diabetes is a disorder of the metabolism that prevents glucose from being safely converted and stored into the bodies cells. The pancreas is responsible for producing insulin to break down blood sugars. In people with diabetes this system either produces no insulin, type 1 diabetes, or produces too little insulin to be effective for the person’s diet, type 2 diabetes. Without this insulin glucose begins to accumulate in the blood stream and when your body begins to have a surplus of glucose a whole host of symptoms may develop; including those that affect the eyes and vision.

When a diabetics body begins to become saturated in glucose, the lens of the eye can swell, which changes the shape and flexibility of the eye. This fluctuation causes the vision to become blurry. If this condition is not regulated immediately a wide range of complications could develop. It is not uncommon for blurry vision to lead to more progressive problems such as double vision, cloudy vision, seeing spots in front of the eyes, and also retinal detachment. A retinal detachment in particular can lead to blindness; as the eye changes shape the delicate construction of the eye lens and retina are strained, resulting in tearing.

While it may be easier to assume that blurred vision is not related to diabetes, it should be noted that anyone with a family or personal history of the disease should immediately see a doctor if they experience this symptom. Also, anyone who does not have diabetes should consult a doctor if the condition is persistent or worsens. The human eye is a delicate structure and any changes in your normal vision should be considered a sign of a possible problem

So how do you prevent and or treat such a serious symptom of diabetes. First and foremost, if you are aware that you have the disease, you should be regularly checking your blood sugar levels and taking the steps provided by your doctor to lower your levels. If you are taking these precautions and you are still experiencing blurry vision, one of two things may be occurring. Either you are not regulating effectively or you are experiencing a delay in benefits. It is not uncommon for diabetics who have recently had a bout of blurred vision to not see any visual changes for up to three months. As all who suffer from this condition know, it is far easier to acquire a symptom than it is to remedy one.