Are cataracts and diabetes linked?
Are cataracts and diabetes linked?
The connection between diabetes and cataracts If left unchecked, high blood sugar slowly damages blood vessels throughout the body. This includes the tiny blood vessels in the eyes. And when diabetes affects these blood vessels, there’s the risk of cataracts and other eye conditions.
What are the risk factors that are contributing to risk for diabetes?
Are 45 years or older. Have a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes. Are physically active less than 3 times a week. Have ever had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or given birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds.
Does diabetes complicate cataract surgery?
Cataract extraction (CE) in diabetic patients as compared to non-diabetic patients is associated with higher risks of reported complications such as capsular contraction and opacification as well as post-surgical worsening of macular edema (ME) and diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Why are diabetics susceptible to cataracts?
CATARACT INCIDENCE IN DIABETIC PATIENTS The main risk factors are longer duration of diabetes and poor metabolic control. Although older patients suffer from irreversible cataract formation, good metabolic control may reverse cataract in young diabetics.
Why do diabetics have eye problems?
Diabetes damages blood vessels all over the body. The damage to your eyes starts when sugar blocks the tiny blood vessels that go to your retina, causing them to leak fluid or bleed. To make up for these blocked blood vessels, your eyes then grow new blood vessels that don’t work well.
What are the risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes?
Factors that may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes include:
- Weight. Being overweight or obese is a main risk.
- Fat distribution. Storing fat mainly in your abdomen — rather than your hips and thighs — indicates a greater risk.
- Inactivity.
- Family history.
- Race and ethnicity.
- Blood lipid levels.
- Age.
- Prediabetes.
What are some complications after cataract surgery?
When cataract surgery complications do occur, they can include:
- Posterior capsule opacification (PCO)
- Intraocular lens dislocation.
- Eye inflammation.
- Light sensitivity.
- Photopsia (perceived flashes of light)
- Macular edema (swelling of the central retina)
- Ptosis (droopy eyelid)
- Ocular hypertension (elevated eye pressure)
Can cataract surgery cause diabetic retinopathy?
When managing the cataract of a patient with diabetes, you should remember that cataract surgery may make diabetic retinopathy worse. Eyes with mild to moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy at the time of surgery are considered less at risk.
Why does cataracts occur in diabetes?
When glucose levels are high, this can cause the lens to swell and affect the clarity of vision. Furthermore, the lens has an enzyme that converts glucose to a substance called sorbitrol, which can cause cataracts when built up in the lens over time.
How can diabetes create cataracts?
Uncontrolled blood sugar also causes enzymes in the lens to convert glucose to a substance called sorbitol. Too much sorbitol in the lens leads to cloudy vision, too. Cataract surgery can reverse a cataract caused by diabetes. This short outpatient procedure involves removing and replacing a damaged lens with a healthy artificial lens.
Is Cataract caused by diabetes?
Yes. You should plan to make regular eye doctor visits when you have diabetes. High blood sugar can lead to problems like blurry vision, cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy. In fact, diabetes is the primary cause of blindness in adults ages 20 to 74. Don’t buy new glasses as soon as you notice that things look blurry.
What is a diabetic cataract?
Description of Diabetic cataract. Diabetic cataract: rare, usually bilateral, opacity shaped like a snowflake, affecting the anterior and posterior cortices of young diabetics; sometimes it can be reversed when the blood glucose is brought under control, but in most cases it progresses rapidly to a mature cataract. Source: CRISP.
