Current Course Topic:
Diabetes is a disease that affects the way the body digests food. A healthy body will digest food and convert it into glucose, a chemical that fuels the cells of the body. A hormone called insulin is essential to this process. Insulin is needed in order for the body to have the energy it needs to grow and stay healthy. People with diabetes are unable to produce, or efficiently use, insulin.
Diabetes can come in two forms: type I diabetes (which is usually diagnosed in children and teenagers), and type II diabetes (which is usually diagnosed in adults). The causes of both types of diabetes are still unknown, however, type I is though to have genetic causes while type II is more strongly linked to lifestyle factors such as obesity, lack of exercise and poor diet. Being of African American, Hispanic American, American Indian, Native Hawaiian or some Pacific Island descent also increases the risk for type II diabetes. Neither form of diabetes is contagious: you cannot catch diabetes from another person.
If people have these symptoms, they should go to the doctor to get tested for diabetes. Then the doctor and other health care providers can help the person to manage the disease to prevent complications.
| Kidney disease |  |
These complications happen because diabetes affects blood vessels and nerves.
An important point is that a person may already have the beginning stages of diabetic retinopathy without knowing it, as it does not affect vision in the early onset.
| Normal Retina | Diabetic Retina |
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| Back of Healthy Eye | Back of Diabetic Retinopathy Patient's Eye |
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| New Blood Vessel Growth | |
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The best thing to do is to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle by eating foods that have complex carbohydrates instead of fats and sugars. Fruits and vegetables are important to prevent diabetes. Also, do regular physical exercise - this will help your body break down sugars.
Lucy was diagnosed with diabetes at age 12 and has lived with the disease for over 10 years.
Lucy: "It was a bit difficult to adjust to my new lifestyle after I was diagnosed with diabetes. Not only for me, but for my family as well. My parents and I all had to learn about nutrition to make sure that I was eating in a controlled and healthy way. In the beginning I had to keep records about what and when I was eating. Now that I have a better understanding of how to control my glucose levels and a better understanding of what is in the foods I eat, I don't have to keep written records, but I do keep mental track of what I'm eating. I try to stick to a routine so that I eat at the same times every day and maintain a balanced and consistent diet. I do still keep written records of my glucose level, which I measure every day.
"I also make sure that I take regular exercise for around 20 minutes each day and take the medication suggested by my doctor. Staying healthy and fit will reduce my risk of getting complications such as diabetic eye disease, kidney disease or damage to my cardio-vascular system."
If you have already been diagnosed with diabetes, it is extremely important to maintain a healthy lifestyle which keeps your glucose levels as close to normal as possible. It's also important for you to know the risks associated with diabetes and the common complications that can arise from the disease.
In this section, we will discuss how diabetes can affect the eyes and vision. Diabetes is a serious disease which, untreated, can result in permanent eye damage or even blindness. There are, however, many ways to reduce these risks. The take-home message of this sections is: If you are diabetic then maintaining a healthy lifestyle and visiting an eye doctor regularly every year can greatly reduce the risk of damage to your eyes.
There are three main complications of diabetes that can affect the eyes:
People with diabetes (both type I and II) are at greatest risk of developing any of these diabetic eye diseases.
Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease. The retina is the eye's "movie screen". It is a surface at the back of the eye that receives light from everything we see. The light from outside is projected onto the retina, much like light from a movie projector is projected onto a movie screen. A healthy retina is essential for good vision.
Attached to the retina are a number of blood vessels. In a healthy eye, these blood vessels carry nutrients from the blood to the retina. In a person suffering from diabetic retinopathy, these blood vessels become damaged and swell. Some can become so damaged that they fail to perform their job as carriers of nutrients to the retina. In even more advanced stages of diabetic retinopathy, the body will produce more, alternative blood vessels on the surface of the retina to replace those which have been damaged. These new blood vessels are weak, however, and can leak blood into the main cavity of the eye. It is this leakage which causes vision loss and possibly even blindness.
Don't wait for symptoms to appear! The early stages diabetic retinopathy often do not have any noticeable symptoms. For this reason, it is necessary to have a comprehensive eye exam at least once a year-- even people who manage their diabetes well have a high risk of developing diabetic eye disease. During the exam, the doctor will dilate your eye using special eye drops. This widens the pupil (the dark part of the eye) so that the doctor can see more easily to the back of your eye where the retina is.
Treatment for diabetic retinopathy is available. Most commonly, a laser procedure can be used to prevent weak blood vessels from leaking blood into the eye. Blood that has leaked into the eye blocks light from clearly passing through the eye and onto the retina, causing blotchy vision and even blindness. Even after bleeding has occurred, some treatment is possible, although the methods are more complicated than a simple laser surgery.
Lucy: "Even though I manage my diabetes well through a controlled diet, daily exercise and insulin injections, I have developed diabetic retinopathy. So far my vision is not affected, and my doctor says that treatment is not necessary. But I do have to go the eye doctor more frequently to make sure that my condition is not getting worse."
"I think it is important for people with diabetes to realize the risks that this disease can have for all parts of the body. The eyes are especially important because problems can occur even before you feel any discomfort or changes in vision. I encourage everyone with diabetes to get regular (yearly) eye exams and to eat right and follow their doctor's recommendations on how to manage their diabetes. Even in people without diabetes, but who might have a risk of becoming diabetic, maintaining a healthy diet without too much sugar or salt and plenty of vegetables and fruits as well as exercise can greatly reduce the risk of contracting diabetes."