How Does Diabetes Damage your Eyes?

There are several health complaints which you might associate with diabetes depending on how much you know about the condition. These are gangrene leading to amputation and blindness. Both are obviously very severe and when left unmanaged can spiral out of control and lead to a nasty end. What you might not be as aware of is just why the conditions occur in the first place. Why would a condition which affects your blood sugar levels damage your eyesight?

Well, high levels of blood-sugar damage us on a micro-vascular level, meaning it harms the tiniest blood vessels in our body. Think of blood-sugar as tiny crystals of sugar in the blood, minuscule but sharp like broken glass. In the tighter vessel these crystals are going to leave tiny rips and tears or start to clog it up altogether. The eyes are incredibly delicate organs and as such any damage, no matter how small is dangerous and may affect our eyesight.

There are two main types of diabetic retinopathy (diabetes causes eyes issues) these are:

Non-Proliferative Retinopathy – The first stage of the disease in which the constantly fluctuating levels of blood-sugar start to damage the walls of blood vessels. As I say, crystals leaving tears. These vessels then begin to leak and a leaking blood vessel causes swelling. In the eye this swelling causes a blurring of the vision in which straight lines may appear wavy as the retina bulges and changes shape.

Proliferative Retinopathy – The disease’s second stage in which the eyes try and make up for the damaged and leaking blood vessels by creating new ones. These are weak and take up too much space, crowding your delicate eyes. These vessels can’t take the pressure and will burst and then bleed, causing scarring and potential blindness.