Diabetes, a major cause of blindness in the United States

Diabetes, which can effect most organ systems, can cause serious damage within the eye leading to serious vision loss and even blindness.  It can strike at any age.  When it affects younger individuals it is known as type 1 diabetes and in adults it is called type 2 or adult onset.  It has reached epidemic proportions in this country largely due to increasing obesity in the adult population as well as our sedentary life style.

While there is an increasing incidence of cataracts with diabetes the real problem with diabetes is when it affects the back of the eye, or the retina.  Vessel walls are damaged early on in the disease. This can be detected as microaneurysms, which are like bubbles on the wall of a car tire.  These microaneurysms can lead to leakage of proteinaceous fluid and bleeding, which in turn can lead to retinal swelling.  Additionally vessels can disappear leading to oxygen deprivation of retinal tissues.  This  leads to new but abnormal vessel formation which can cause retinal distortion and even detachment.  Other complications can involve severe hemorrhaging and glaucoma.

Diabetes can easily be diagnosed by simple blood tests with your Doctor.  When diagnosed a dilated fundus exam with your eye doctor is imperative since this is a treatable disease.  The eye specialists at North Shore Eye Care are all all Board Certified Ophthalmologists and have been recognized in Castle Connelly's Top Doctors.  We serve patients from Montauk, the Hamptons, Greenport, Southold, Mattituck, Riverhead, Hampton Bays, Manorville,Mastic Beach, Coram, Miller Place, Rocky Point, Coram, Smithtown, Stony Brook,  as well as all other areas of Suffolk County and Suffolk County.