Losing vision is the most feared complication of diabetes.
It is always important if you have diabetes to maintain good control of both
blood glucose and
blood pressure. This is vital in order to prevent
eye complications that may arise due to diabetes.
An eye examination will assess whether visual symptoms are caused by cataract or
glaucoma. However, it is the effect of diabetes on the retina which can result in the serious
loss of eye sight. This is called
diabetic retinopathy and may develop over a period of time even in the absence of obvious symptoms.
It is therefore essential that any patient with diabetes attends regular eye screening and checkups which are designed to detect even the earliest signs of
retinopathy.
Even if patients develop serious
retinopathy, laser treatment has proven to be highly effective at preventing any further visual loss.