Center for Vision Loss

DIABETES AND YOUR EYES

The Pennsylvania Association for the Blind (PAB) reminds everyone that November is Diabetic Eye Disease Month. The PAB has shared the following information with Center for Vision Loss, one of its member agencies:

When we were children we learned to read with simple stories. Our first books were filled with colorful characters having great adventures-all in 20 pages or less. As our reading skills improved, the stories became more complex, and we graduated to chapter books. A chapter tells one part of the story-just a piece that weaves with the others until the full story is revealed.

And just like a book, your health also has chapters. Some seem to stand alone-like the sprained wrist you had when you were 10. But, decades later arthritis develops in that joint, and you realize that chapter is still a part of a bigger story.

Such is the case with diabetes, which can lead to kidney disease, amputations, and blindness. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), two out of every five Americans are at risk to develop Type 2 diabetes. Also more than one out of every three Americans (86 miillion adults) have prediabetes.

Diabetes results when your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't process it properly. This results in a build up of sugar (glucose) in the blood. A prediabetic person has higher than normal blood glucose levels. This person is at a higher risk to not only develop Type 2 diabetes, but also suffer strokes and heart disease. You have an increased risk of developing diabetes if any of the following apply:

-You are overweight and/or physically inactive

-An immediate family member (parent or sibling) is diabetic

-You are of African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Asian American or Pacific Islander descent

-You've had a baby weighing more than 9 pounds, or you were diabetic while pregnant

-You have high blood pressure, low HDL, or high triglycerides

Paging foward in our book of health, we find the chapters of related illnesses: heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, amputation, and diabetic eye disease (which can lead to blindness). The American Diabetes Association states that hospitalization rates resulting from heart attacks and strokes were higher for those adults with diabetes (1.8 times and 1.5 times, respectively). Diabetes is also the leading cause of kidney failure. And among adults age 20 to 74, diabetes is the primary cause of new cases of blindness. In fact, during 2005-2008, more than 28 percent of Americans (over age 40) with diabetes also had some degree of diabetic retinopathy.

So what can be done? First make sure you get a yearly physcial so that you are aware of your blood glucose and cholesterol levels. If you are prediabetic, the CDC recomments regular physical activity, a healthy diet, and modest weight loss (5%-7%) to help prevent or delay the development of Type 2 diabetes. Try to walk a total of 30 minutes a day. Talk to your physician about a meal plan which is best for you. Don't smoke.

For more information, visit the American Diabetes Association's website (www.diabetes.org) as well as the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov/diabetes/). With information and prevention, your book of health can have a happy ending.

The Center for Vision Loss adds that diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease in which high blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels in the retina (the nerve layer at the back of the eye that senses light and helps to send images to the brain). If you or someone you know has diabetic retinopathy which impacts your vision and your quality of life, please contact us at 610-433-6018 in the Lehigh Valley or 570-992-7787 in Monroe County for more information. Our agency provides programs and services which improve the lives of people with vision loss. Our offices are located at 845 W. Wyoming Street, Allentown, PA 18103 and 4215 Manor Drive, Stroudsbureg, PA 18360 or visit www.centerforvisionloss.org.