Diabetes is a very toxic disease when it’s out of control. So the poor sugar control has all sorts of effects on your metabolism. It can lead to vision loss also.
It raises the blood fats, it can affect the small blood vessels and it can affect the nerves. What it does to the small blood vessels in the back of the eye is that it damages them and makes them very fragile and causes haemorrhages. And that can make you blind. So somebody with diabetes has to get the back of their eyes checked every year, to make sure they’re not getting this retinal problem at the back of their eye or experiencing vision loss.
Retinal problem is treatable with laser treatment. Laser surgery can be used stop the haemorrhage and fix up any damaged blood vessels. The best way to manage Type II diabetes is to get all your risk factors under control. These include you blood sugar, your weight, your blood pressure, your cholesterol level, and actively mange those to help minimise any side effects.
You must especially be careful of kidney damage, this can cause serious problem and complications with diabetes.
Dr Norman Swan, Physician and Journalist
