Dr. Ramesh Babu

You know that diabetes is a chronic condition that renders difficulties to the patient in several aspects. A comprehensive care is essential to manage it effectively as the condition can lead to many other diseases including eye diseases.

If you have been diagnosed with diabetic or hypertensive eyes, then it means that your vision has started to deteriorate. But you need not lose hope as it is still possible to remedy the situation. Understanding the issue in detail will help you cope with the situation better.

What are diabetic and hypertensive eyes?
Diabetic eye refers to the complications in the eyes as a result of diabetes. It affects the blood vessels of the retina and hence develop impairment of vision and loss of vision in severe cases. Similarly, hypertensive eye as indicated by the name is the situation where in the eye is affected as a result of hypertension. This is because high blood pressure affects the blood vessels of the retina. It does not allow the retina to function properly and puts pressure on the optic nerve resulting is vision problems.

What are the symptoms of diabetic retinopathy?

Like many conditions of this nature, the early stages of diabetic retinopathy may occur without symptoms and without pain. An actual influence on the vision will not occur until the disease advances. Symptoms may only become noticeable once the disease advances, but the typical symptoms of retinopathy to look out for include:

1. Sudden changes in vision / blurred vision
2. Eye floaters and spots
3. Double vision
4. Eye pain

How to take care of the conditions?
In the conditions of the diabetic eye and hypertensive eye that prime step to take care is to control diabetes and hypertension respectively. By following the prescribed medications for these conditions, the vision problem can be managed. At the same time, some adequate preventive measures are of utmost importance to efficiently and effectively take care of both diabetic eye and hypertensive eye.

Taking care of diabetic eye
First and foremost, you need to keep your diabetes under control and prevent it from being getting into the advanced stage. You should take utmost care to maintain the blood sugar level under control. After that, it is also necessary to keep the blood pressure in the correct range. Also, the cholesterol level in the blood needs to be under control. A proper and balanced diet is essential in this case. Whole grains, green leafy vegetables, fruits and lean protein should be included in the diet. Exercising is also very important to deal with diabetic, and if you are a smoker, you should quit it immediately since it causes problems with the blood vessels.

Taking care of hypertensive eye
You should bring down your blood pressure to the correct level and maintain it. You should consume a diet which contains all the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. You should make sure not to do or involve in anything activity that can increase your tension or excite you. Smoking and drinking should be avoided to deal with the hypertensive eyes effectively. You should get yourself adequate and peaceful sleep which will help you to ease out of tension.

It is imperative to consult an ophthalmologist if you notice the classic symptoms of vision problems such as blurry vision, seeing floaters or flashes. If the condition progresses, treatment will involve medications or surgery depending on the severity of the condition. Hence, the best way to avoid such complications is to maintain a healthy lifestyle to take due care of your eyes.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!