If you have diabetes, then you have too much glucose in your blood. Too much glucose leads to serious health concerns. You can develop kidney disease and failure, lose limbs and develop heart disease.
Diabetes is also one of the leading causes of new blindness in the United States. It causes eye problems like diabetic macular edema (DME), which affects the blood vessels in your eyes. If you do not get an eye disease treatment, then you can lose all or some of your sight. Read on to find out how to treat diabetic macular edema.
Close Leaking Blood Vessels
DME occurs from a buildup of fluid that causes your macula to swell. The macula is located in the central portion of your retina. It is where your vision is the sharpest. DME causes vision problems to progress over a period of months and makes it difficult to focus clearly.
A focal laser is one of the treatment options for this eye disease. It uses laser therapy to destroy and close leaking blood vessels. This treatment also stops or slows down the growth of new blood vessels, which can further damage your vision.
Focus laser treatment protects your remaining vision and slightly improves your current vision. However, it can leave permanent blind spots in your vision.
Talk To Your Doctor About Anti-VEGF Drugs
Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs are used to block the development of new blood vessels. It limits leakage from abnormal blood vessels inside of your eyes. These drugs are administered through an injection into your eye. The eye is numbed before the injection, which means you should feel some pressure.
However, you will need more than one injection. The number of treatments depends on your doctor and the severity of your condition.
Go To A Low Vision Specialist
If you have lost some vision from DME, then you must find a way to remain independent. Vision rehabilitation provides you with special training for living with low vision. Low vision aids are used with this training to improve your vision. Examples of aids include large print reading materials, magnifying glasses, high-intensity reading lamps, tablets, and computers. A low vision specialist can help you with finding the right combination of aids to improve your situation.
Diabetes is a serious condition and something that is not going to go away without treatment. You must change the way you eat, get active and follow your doctor's instructions.
Share19 March 2018
