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We're talking about the eyes this week on Healthwatch. There are a number of complications from diabetes, and one of them is diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness. Diabetes damages blood vessels, and when it damages the blood vessels in the eyes, it can cause vision loss.
Doctors at UT Southwestern Medical Center say that's why regular eye exams are an important part of managing diabetes. This condition causes no symptoms in its earliest stages, so you can't wait until you notice problems to get a checkup.
Dr. Yu-Guang He, a UT Southwestern ophthalmologist, says doctors can look inside your eyes to see not only the lesions inside the eye that could lead to blindness, but also to get a sense of the degree of blood vessel damage in the rest of the body. Doctors may be able to treat lesions in the eye before there is irreversible damage.
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April 2005
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