Diabetes is a lifelong condition and can cause several health complications. Your eyes are one part of your body that can be affected.
It’s possible that your diabetes won’t cause any changes to your vision. However, diabetes can affect your eyes in a number of ways.
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This page contains a summary of our information on diabetes-related eye conditions. To read our full information, download our Understanding Eye Conditions Related to Diabetes guide, which is accredited by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists:
You can also download Understanding Eye Conditions Related to Diabetes in Word.
Do you live in the UK and have you been diagnosed with an eye condition associated with Diabetes? If so, we would like your views on our information factsheet about eye conditions associated with Diabetes. Your views will help us make our factsheet as useful as possible for other people diagnosed with this condition.
Read our factsheet on eye conditions associated with Diabetes (which can be downloaded from the link above)
Answer a few questions over the phone or via email about how helpful the current content is, based on your experience of the condition, and how the information in our factsheet could be improved.
To find out more please contact the RNIB eye health information service on 020 7391 3299 or email [email protected].
Quick links
– How can diabetes affect my vision?
– What are the types of diabetic retinopathy?
– How can I reduce the risks?
– Diabetes in different communities
– What can be done about diabetic retinopathy?
– Staying independent with sight loss caused by diabetes
– Coping
Not everyone who has diabetes develops an eye condition.
Diabetes can cause blood vessels in the retina to become blocked, to leak or to grow incorrectly. The type of diabetic retinopathy you have depends on how badly your blood vessels are affected by diabetes. There are different types of retinopathy:
If your diabetes is well controlled, you’re less likely to have problems, or they may be less serious. However, some people with diabetes do have serious sight loss because of their retinopathy. You can reduce your risk of developing retinopathy, or help to stop it from getting worse, by:
If you or your family are from a South Asian or African-Caribbean background, you’re two to four times more likely to get type 2 diabetes. The factors behind this aren’t fully understood but are thought to involve insulin problems, genes, diet and lifestyle.
Find out more about diabetes in different communities and how to reduce your risk.
Diabetic retinopathy can be treated with laser treatment to prevent sight threatening complications. Laser can be used in two ways:
Diabetic macular oedema (DMO) can be treated with anti-VEGF treatment. This is usually given when your macula has swollen to a certain size. Anti-VEGF treatment can help to improve your vision by reducing your macular oedema and helping the fluid to be reabsorbed.
If you have sight loss, you may find that this makes managing and monitoring your diabetes at home more difficult. In our video, Carol talks about how she uses lighting, magnifiers and tactile aids to help her monitor her diabetes.
More helpful information on staying independent with sight loss can be found in our Making the Most of Your Sight guide.
It’s completely natural to be concerned when you’ve been diagnosed with an eye condition related to diabetes. We’re here to support you every step of the way, and to answer any questions you may have – just get in touch with our Sight Loss Advice Service.
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If you need someone who understands sight loss, call us on 0303 123 9999. Whether you're looking for emotional support or straightforward advice, we'll help you in any way we can.
RNIB Sight Loss Advice Service