Diabetes is a disease which affects the body’s ability to produce or use insulin, which controls the levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Glucose is a main and important source of energy to the organism’s cells, but its increased quantity for a long period of time can cause many issues in the body, including the heart, kidneys, blood vessels all over the body and in the eyes.
The condition in which blood vessels in the retina swell, leak, close up completely or if unusual blood vessels show up on the surface of the retina is called diabetic retinopathy.
People who have the highest risk of this disease are those who suffer from diabetes and have – bad blood sugar control, pregnant women, people who suffer from high blood pressure of people with a high concentration of lipids in the blood. Some ethnic groups, such as Black, Latin and Native-American people are more predisposed to this condition. There are studies that prove diabetes as the biggest risk to vision loss in Latin Americans.
Remember: diabetes can cause changes in eyesight even if you do not suffer from retinopathy. If blood sugar levels change quickly, the shape of the lens is affected and blurred vision is caused. It normalizes when blood sugar levels go back to normal.