Three Things Diabetes Can Do To Your Eyes

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People with diabetes have a hard time processing blood glucose, so there is often too much sugar in the blood. This excess blood sugar can wreak havoc on tissues throughout the body, including those in the eyes. In fact, diabetic eye damage is the biggest cause of vision problems in adults between the ages of 20 and 74. If you have diabetes, it’s crucial to work closely with your doctor to get your blood sugar levels under control. You will also need to visit your Champaign, IL eye doctors at Champaign Eye Professionals so they can watch for and treat these diabetic eye diseases:

1. Diabetic Retinopathy

This is one of the top causes of blindness for adults in America. High blood sugar damages blood vessels in the retina. Sometimes, it causes these vessels to leak or to grow abnormally. The retina processes light into images, so if these vessels are damaged, your ability to see can decline. Fortunately, with active diabetes management and regular diabetic eye exams and treatment from your optometrists in Champaign, IL, diabetic retinopathy can be slowed or even stopped.

2. Glaucoma

People with diabetes have a much higher incidence of glaucoma, which causes elevated fluid pressure in the eye. High blood sugar causes elevated pressure, which occurs because eye fluids cannot drain normally to maintain healthy pressure. This excess pressure damages nerves and blood vessels, which can reduce your vision. Regular diabetic eye exams are crucial for detecting glaucoma development early, allowing for timely treatment and prevention of blindness.

3. Cataracts

Diabetes can also cause and accelerate the formation of cloudy cataracts in the lens of the eyes. Although anyone can develop cataracts that cloud the eye’s lens, people with higher blood sugar levels from diabetes run a greater risk of getting them earlier and having them develop faster.

Visit the Optometrists Champaign Neighbors Rely on For Excellent Diabetic Eye Care

If you have diabetes, preserving your vision requires an active, two-pronged approach:

  1. Follow your doctor’s plan for lowering and managing your blood sugar
  2. Attend regular diabetic eye exams to detect and treat problems early to slow or stop damage to your eyes.

Schedule an appointment with us today here at Champaign Eye Professionals for specialized diabetic eye exams and proactive treatment to maintain your eye health.

Four Risk Factors for Developing Cataracts

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Your eyes each have a clear lens that allows light to pass through to the back of your eye (retina), where visual images are processed and sent to your brain so you can see. Like a camera lens, your eyes’ lenses need to be clear and clean for images to remain sharp. Cataracts form when the proteins inside your lenses break down and form cloudy areas that obscure your vision. There are many different types of cataracts, and your Champaign, IL optometrists at Champaign Eye Professionals can provide treatments that can restore your vision. There are four main risk factors for developing cataracts:

1. Age

As we age, proteins throughout the body break down and regenerate more slowly than when we were younger. Protein deterioration happens to the clear crystallin proteins in your eyes’ lenses, too. When these proteins break down over time, cloudy patches form.

2. Environmental Factors

Toxins that surround us in our environment can also damage cells in the eyes and cause cataracts. People with high exposure to the following environmental factors have a higher incidence of cataracts:

  • Air pollution
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Tobacco smoke
  • Pesticides
  • Chemicals used in industrial settings
  • Excess exposure to UV rays from the sun

3. Medical Risks

Some medical conditions also impact the clarity of your eyes’ lenses. Sometimes, medications and treatments for other medical conditions can stimulate cataract formation. Some of the biggest medical risk factors for cataracts include:

  • Unchecked diabetes
  • A history of glaucoma
  • Corticosteroid use for treating other health conditions
  • A history of other eye diseases

4. Genetic Predisposition

If you have close family members who have cataracts, your risk increases. Genetic factors can affect how resilient or vulnerable your eye lens proteins are to other risk factors, too. Although you cannot alter your genetic risk factors, you should inform your optometrists in Champaign about them so they can proactively monitor your eyes for cataract development.

Cataract Treatment with The Eye Doctors Champaign Residents Trust

The only way to treat cataracts is to remove them surgically. The highly-skilled optometrists here at Champaign Eye Professionals can remove the clouded lens and replace it with a clear, new intraocular lens that restores clear vision. This surgery can also correct other vision issues like refractive errors, making you less reliant on glasses or contacts. If you have any questions or concerns about your vision, schedule an appointment with us today.

3 Things that Can Increase Your Risk for Dry Eye

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Anyone can experience the symptoms of dry eye, an irritating condition that affects your eyes’ ability to make enough tears or the right balance of tears. Healthy tears consist of three layers: an oily layer, a watery layer, and a mucous layer, all of which clean, lubricate, and hydrate your eyes for maximum comfort and protection. So, dry eye can also happen if that three-layer balance is disturbed, too. If you struggle with any of the following dry eye symptoms, schedule an appointment with your optometrist in Champaign at Champaign Eye Professionals:

  • Constant scratchy, stinging, or burning sensations
  • Redness and light sensitivity
  • Stringy mucus around the eyes
  • Irritation when trying to wear contacts
  • Blurry vision
  • Extra watery eyes (a response to an imbalance in tear production)
  • Eye fatigue

Since these symptoms can also indicate other eye conditions, it’s important to have your eyes evaluated right away. Your chances of struggling with dry eye are higher if you have any of the following risk factors:

1. Lifestyle and Environmental Factors

People who spend a lot of their time on screens can suffer eye strain, as can people frequently exposed to first or secondhand tobacco smoke. Allergies and contact lens use can also increase the risk.

2. Physical and Medical Factors

Women have a much higher risk of dry eye irritation than men because of all the hormonal changes they undergo throughout life, especially during pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause. Age can also play a role, as people over the age of 50 experience a natural decrease in tear production.

3. Medical Conditions

People who have a vitamin A nutritional deficiency have a higher risk of dry eye, as do people struggling with autoimmune conditions, endocrine diseases, and neurological disorders. Some medications that help control blood pressure, allergies, anxiety, glaucoma, and pain can trigger dry eyes as well. If you have had any eye surgeries (LASIK, cornea surgery, or cataract surgery), there is a higher risk as well.

See Your Champaign, IL Optometrists for Dry Eye Treatment

Keep in mind that dry eye symptoms can also indicate other eye diseases, so don’t ignore them. To protect your vision and restore eye comfort, schedule an appointment with your eye doctor at Champaign Eye Professionals today.

How is a Diabetic Eye Exam Different from a Routine Eye Exam?

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Routine eye exams and diabetic eye exams have many things in common, but diabetic eye exams go the extra mile to monitor tissue damage from high blood sugar. Here at Champaign Eye Professionals, your Champaign optometrist will do additional tests to evaluate and treat conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts—all of which are more common in people with diabetes. These tests help us monitor changes and provide prompt treatments that can help you stall diabetes-related vision problems.

Things Routine and Diabetic Eye Exams Have in Common

Whether you have diabetes or not, your optometrist in Champaign will review your medical history and evaluate your overall eye health during every exam. All patients receive visual acuity and refraction tests. These tests tell us if your prescription glasses or contacts need updates. They can also help us catch other eye problems early on. In fact, these routine tests can sometimes give us clues that diabetes is a factor in your life.

Where Diabetic Eye Exams Differ from Routine Eye Exams

During a diabetic eye exam, we will give you special eye drops to dilate your pupils. This opens them wider so your eye doctor can explore your retina, its blood vessels, and the macula with an ophthalmoscope. Any abnormalities or inflammation in these structures might indicate the development of diabetic retinopathy, the most common cause of blindness for adults in America. Prompt diagnosis helps us treat it more effectively to preserve your vision.

We also use a slit lamp to evaluate your eye lenses for cataracts—cloudiness caused by a breakdown in the proteins that keep your eye lenses clear. People with diabetes are more likely to develop cataracts.

Glaucoma tests are also a routine part of diabetic eye exams. Using a special instrument that measures the fluid pressure in your eyes, we can catch glaucoma early and provide prompt treatment to slow or stop its development.

Protect Your Eyes with the Optometrist Champaign Trusts for Diabetic Eye Exams

People with diabetes should have a diabetic eye exam at least once a year to monitor any changes in vision and eye health so they can be treated quickly. Managing your diabetes and getting prompt treatment of conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts can help preserve your vision for as long as possible. Schedule an appointment with us here at Champaign Eye Professionals for your next diabetic eye exam.