“Diabetic eye disease” is a family of eye problems caused by diabetes. Together, these disorders are the leading cause of vision loss in diabetic patients and working-age adults.

Diabetes disrupts the blood vessels in your retina, causing those blood vessels to leak or bleed. This is known as diabetic retinopathy, and it affects your retina’s ability to detect light and send signals to your brain.

Sometimes, diabetic retinopathy causes the macula in the retina to swell with fluid, which can compromise the ability to read, drive, and recognize faces. This disorder is known as diabetic macular edema, or DME.

When diabetic retinopathy becomes advanced, damaged blood vessels seal off. Your eye will attempt to grow new blood vessels, but these abnormal vessels can leak into the eye. Additionally, abnormal blood vessels can cause your eye to grow scar tissue that may eventually detach the retina from the back of the eye.

They can cause fluid to build up, resulting in glaucoma. Glaucoma and cataracts are much more common in people suffering from diabetes.

If your diabetes is affecting your eyes, it may take a while for symptoms to start showing. Here’s what to look for.

Dark spots or streaks in your vision. These often have a floating quality.

Blurred or fluctuating vision.

• If you can see an object in your peripherals, but not when you look at it straight on.
• While reading, you may experience some blind spots in your vision, or words may appear wavy and distorted.
• You can see things better if you don’t look at them directly.

Vision is affected by sunlight.

• After spending time in the sun, things seem darker.
• Your eyes are more sensitive to light.
• You see better at night.

Reduced sharpness of vision

• Your depth perception is off.
• You have trouble recognizing faces.
• Your vision has “good days” and “bad days.”
• You don’t see colors as well as you normally would.

Diabetic Eye Exams

• Our doctors will specifically look for signs that diabetes is affecting your vision. They’ll get an overall picture of how diabetes is influencing your vision and overall health.

Macular Degeneration Screening and Management

• Macular degeneration drastically diminishes your quality of life. Our doctors will work to understand the big picture of your medical circumstances and formulate a management plan that mitigates macular degeneration as quickly as possible.

High Risk Medication Screening

• Medication for other issues may affect your vision. Our doctors work with your primary care physician to ensure your medications aren’t in conflict with one another.

Optical Coherence Tomography

• This non-invasive imaging test takes pictures of the retina to assess blood vessel damage caused by diabetes.

Fundus Photography

• This test takes pictures of the back of the eye with an intricate microscope attached to a flash-enabled camera. Fundus photographs capture detailed images of your macula and other parts of your eye that diabetes may interfere with.

Glaucoma Screening, Treatment, and Management

• Often, glaucoma is caused by fluid leaking into your eye and disrupting your optic nerve. Our doctors will work to discover the cause of this build-up and help develop a long-term treatment plan.

Diabetes can set off a chain reaction of disorders that hinder your vision. If untreated, these diseases can result in permanent vision loss, but that doesn’t have to be the case. At Cheatham, we work to find the root cause of your eye issues and make a plan for lifelong health.