Diabetes Eye Problems & Retinopathy

"The negative effects of diabetes on your eyes can be very damaging,” commented Fairfield County Ophthalmologist Leslie Doctor, M.D. “Diabetes is a disease that impairs your ability to properly metabolize and process glucose. Too much blood glucose can cause microangiopathy-or damage to the small blood vessels throughout the body-including the heart, kidneys and eyes, particularly the blood vessels in the retina,” she said.
Diabetic retinopathy results when the blood vessels in the retina close off, balloon, leak, or close off completely or if abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina. Those at the greatest risk of diabetic retinopathy include people with poor blood sugar control, women who are pregnant, and people with high blood pressure, high blood lipids or both. Also, people who are from certain ethnic groups, such as African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, are more likely to develop Diabetic Retinopathy.
Diabetes can cause vision in your eyes to change even if you do not have retinopathy. If your blood sugar levels change quickly, it can affect the shape of your eye’s crystalline lens, causing blurry vision, which goes back to normal after your blood sugar stabilizes. Maintaining good control of your blood sugar helps reduce episodes of blurry vision.
If you or someone you know has diabetes or even high blood sugar, especially if there is a family history of diabetes-you should have regular eye exams to help protect your eye health and vision. Please feel free to call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.
Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice providing eye examinations for adults and children, cataract surgery and intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and management of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses and optical services. For those patients in need of eye surgery, as a founding member of the Wilton Surgery Center, Doctor & Associates eye surgeons are able to provide eye surgery in a convenient, close to home and cost effective ambulatory surgery center.
Whatever your eye care, eye health or vision correction needs might be-Doctor & Associates can serve as a Connecticut ophthalmic consultant and will be conveniently located for patients from Fairfield County and southern Connecticut including Danbury, Stamford, Greenwich, Westport, Weston, Wilton, New Canaan, Norwalk, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Cannondale, Aspetuck, Redding, Trumbull, Shelton, Monroe, Darien, Glenbrook and Ridgefield Connecticut.