Can diabetes affect my eyes?
Yes, diabetes can affect your eyes, and it does so quietly. High sugar damages the tiny vessels of the retina for years before vision changes, which is why annual dilated eye exams are part of diabetes care even when sight feels perfect.
Caught early, retinopathy is very treatable; caught late, less so. Blurred vision can also swing temporarily with sugar levels themselves.
Sudden vision loss, floaters showering across vision, or curtains over sight are emergencies. Otherwise: book the yearly exam, keep sugar and blood pressure controlled, and the odds stay strongly in your favor.
Source: American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes
See a doctor promptly if
- Extreme thirst, frequent urination, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, rapid breathing or drowsiness. This can be a diabetic emergency, seek urgent care
- Unintentional weight loss with thirst and urination, especially in someone slim or young. This may be type 1 diabetes and needs same-day assessment
- A foot wound, ulcer or infection that is not healing, with known or suspected diabetes
- Sudden vision loss or new floaters in one or both eyes
- Confusion, sweating and shakiness that improve with sugar in someone using glucose-lowering medication
Work out what your blood sugar meansneeds a meter, free, nothing to install
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
If you are buying a meter
Any major-brand glucose meter is accurate enough for home tracking. The real cost is the strips, so compare strip prices before choosing the meter.
Buying through this link supports the free library with a small commission. It never changes a pick.
Have your own result?
Send the report. A doctor explains every value in writing within 3 days.
People also ask
Health education, not medical advice.