The Facts about Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that mainly affects the eyes and it is the leading cause of blindness especially among diabetic (both type 1 and 2) adults aged between 20 and 74 years. It occurs when elevated blood sugar levels damage the tiny light sensitive blood vessels and tissue inside the retina (at the back of the eye).

Stages of diabetic retinopathy

1. Mild non-proliferative retinopathy: This is the earliest stage that occurs when diabetes affects the circulatory system of the retina thus weakening the walls of retinal capillaries forming microaneurysms. Microaneurysms are small outpunches of the small blood vessels which can leak blood and fluid leading to edema and swelling in the retina which result in small dot-like hemorrhages.

2. Moderate non-proliferative retinopathy: As the disease worsens or progresses the nourishing small blood vessels of the retina are blocked.

3. Severe non-proliferative retinopathy: As many more tiny blood vessels in the retina are blocked, several areas of the retina are deprived off blood and oxygen supply. In an attempt to maintain adequate blood supply, sends signals to the body to stimulate the growth of new fragile blood vessels in order to bring in nourishment.

4. Proliferative retinopathy: Once neovascularization (formation of new blood vessels in the retina) occurs the condition becomes worse. Proliferative retinopathy is mainly characterized by the growth of fragile abnormal tiny blood vessels both on the retinal surface and also on the vitreous gel inside the eye. If left untreated, these fragile and delicate blood vessels leak blood leading to severe vision loss or even blindness resulting from retinal detachment.

Signs and Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy

Patients are normally asymptomatic in the early phases of diabetic retinopathy. However, in the more advanced stages, complications may start developing and the patient may experience several symptoms including blurred vision, distortion, floaters, and acute progressive loss of vision. There are also other signs and symptoms of diabetic retinopathy which include;

Microaneurysms: This is the earliest clinical symptom of diabetic retinopathy. They occur secondary to outpunch of capillary walls due to pericyte loss. They primarily appear as small red dots mainly in the superficial retinal layers.
Dot and blot hemorrhages: If they are very small, they appear similar to microaneurysms. They occur as a result of rupturing of the microaneurysms in the deep layers of the retina such as the outer pexiform and the inner nuclear layers.
Flame-shaped hemorrhages: These are splinter hemorrhages that mainly occur in the superficial nerve fiber layer.
Hard exudates and retinal edema: These are caused by breakdown of the retina-blood barrier. This allows leakage of allowing leakage of lipids, serum proteins, and protein from the tiny blood vessels.
Macular edema causes visual impairment.
Complexity reading due to blurred or distorted vision.
Pain in the eyes.
Distorted central vision.
Abnormal patterns or floaters in the field of vision.

Who is at risk of Diabetic Retinopathy?

Diabetics (both type 1 and type 2) are at risk of developing this and other eye diseases which can result in severe loss of vision and/or blindness. This can occur much earlier and is likely to be more severe is a person’s diabetes is poorly managed or left untreated. Additionally, pregnant women who are diabetic should guard their vision by having a comprehensive dilated eye examination.

Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy

· Glucose control: Intensive glucose control especially in patients with IDDM (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) decreases the progression and incidence of diabetic retinopathy.

· Laser photocoagulation: This entails the use of a high focused beam of light (energy) to stimulate a coagulative response.

· Pan-retinal photocoagulation: This procedure involves the application small laser burns over the retina in order to spark the central muscular area. This can eliminates the blood vessels completely and stop the leaking.

· Vitrectomy: This procedure is very effective in case of tractional retinal detachment, long standing vitreous hemorrhage, and combined rhegmatogenous and tractional retinal detachment. Treatment of diabetic retinopathy is often very successful especially in preventing, delaying or reducing loss of vision. However, all these procedures do not eliminate the disease entirely.

Prevention

Diabetic retinopathy can be prevented or slowed down by keeping all systemic parameters under control. Such systemic parameters include kidney function, blood sugar levels, lipid profile (triglycerides and cholesterol), hemoglobin levels, and blood pressure. Meditation practice is very effective in reducing and preventing stress. This helps prevent a rise in blood sugars. Moreover, mindful and responsible food choices supports healthy blood sugar level. Yoga and exercise are essential in the management of the blood sugar levels mainly because it helps move glucose into the muscle. On the other hand, yoga postures can be modified to accommodate diabetic people.

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1200 calorie diabetic plan

What is a good 1200 calorie diabetic plan? For diabetics a good diet means everything to them. If they eat wrong types of food their blood sugar explodes. If they eat too little food they can suffer hypoglycemia. So the right diabetic diet is everything.

Diabetes is a condition where the body produces too little of a chemical called insulin. (The pancreas organ is responsible) They chemical called insulin is responsible for changing the blood sugar in your blood into fuel that the body can use.

When too little of the insulin is in the blood the blood glucose levels begin to rise. Once they reach a certain high level they begin to cause severe damage to some of the body’s main components. The common damage that is done includes heart damage, nerve damage, kidney damage, and eye damage. This makes doing a 1200 calorie diabetic plan a must.

When the diabetics body has to little of the insulin it needs to consume foods that are low in sugar. First talk to your doctor and see what the kind of calorie diabetic plan he gives you. He may be able to give you a very good diabetic diet plan. Then talk to others who diabetics and see what their suggestions they can make. The main diabetic diet of a diabetic should consist of low sugar foods.

This means no large amounts of fruit or candy and the like. Also it should consist of high dietary fiber foods. Also when you talk to your doctor ask about some exercise. Exercise is needed when it comes to helping maintain a proper blood sugar. But only do as your doctor says it may become very dangerous if you over do it. So see about a 1200 calorie diabetic plan and what will fit your lifestyle and make controlling your diabetes better.

What is a 1000 calorie diabetic diet?

What is a good 1000 calorie diabetic diet? For diabetics a good diet means everything to them. If they eat wrong types of food their blood sugar explodes. If they eat too little food they can suffer hypoglycemia. So the right diabetic diet is everything. Diabetes is a condition where the body produces too little of a chemical called insulin. (The pancreas organ is responsible) They chemical called insulin is responsible for changing the blood sugar in your blood into fuel that the body can use.

So what’s in a 1000 calorie diabetic diet?

When the diabetics body has to little of the insulin it needs to consume foods that are low in sugar. First talk to your doctor and see what the kinds of 1000 calorie diet he’ll give you. He may be able to give you a very good diabetic diet plan. Then talk to others who are diabetics and see what suggestions they can give you. The main diet of a diabetic should consist of low sugar foods (This means no large amounts of fruit or candy and a likes). It should also consist of high dietary fiber foods. Also when you talk to your doctor ask about what type exercise he can give you. Exercise is needed when it comes to maintaining a proper blood sugar. But only do as your doctor says, it may become very dangerous if you over do it. So check out a 1000 calorie diabetic diet that will fit your lifestyle and in controlling your diabetes and on a better level.

What Should Your Blood Sugar Level Be?

What should your blood sugar level be? Your blood sugar level is a need to know for those who have diabetes or have pre-diabetes. As diabetes ravages the world more and more people ask “What should your blood sugar level be?’’. Diabetes is a disease where the body does not have sufficient amounts of insulin. Insulin is a chemical that is produced by the organ called the pancreas.

The insulin is responsible for changing the sugar in the blood into fuel that the body can use. When the insulin amounts are to low the sugar levels begin to damage the body. The damage that can be done when the sugar is to high includes heart damage, nerve damage, eye damage, and kidney damage. This makes knowing how much your blood sugar should be a need.

So what should your blood sugar level be? For a normal person it should be anywhere from 64.8 mg/dl to levels of 120.4 mg/dl. These depend on when the last meal was and the size of the meal. For diabetics the amounts of sugar in the blood can skyrocket to levels of 200 mg/dl which are very dangerous. In order to keep a steady and healthy blood sugar level you should do several things.

Talk to your doctor, he can give you the best information on how to care for your blood sugar.
Diet, talk to your doctor about a special diet. For diabetics this means eating sugar free foods, and foods that are high in dietary fiber.
Exercise, talk to your doctor about exercise. This plays a major role in containing your blood sugar. Also talk to other diabetics as they may have experience in what works best.

So now that you know what your blood sugar level should be – what will you do to better contain it!

What is a Good Diet for High Blood Sugar?

What is a good diet for high blood sugar? For diabetics a good diet means everything. If they eat wrong their blood sugar explodes. If they eat too little they can suffer hypoglycemia. So the right diet is everything. Diabetes is a disease where the body produces too little of a chemical called insulin. (The pancreas is responsible) They chemical called insulin is responsible for changing the sugar in your blood into fuel that the body can use. When too little of the insulin is in the blood the blood sugar levels begin to rise. Once they reach a certain level they begin to cause damage to some of the body’s main components. The damage that is done includes heart damage, nerve damage, kidney damage, and eye damage. This makes doing a diet for high blood sugar a must.

When the body has too little of the insulin it needs to consume foods that are low in sugar. First talk to your doctor and see what he kind of diet for high blood sugar he gives you. He may be able to give you a very good diet plan. Then talk to others who suffer from diabetes and see what suggestions they can make. The main diet of a diabetic should consist of low sugar foods. (This means no fruit or candy and the like) Also it should consist of high fiber foods. Also when you talk to your doctor ask about exercise. Exercise is key when it comes to helping maintain a proper blood sugar. But only do as your doctor says it may become dangerous if you over do it. So see about a diet for high blood sugar, and what will fit your lifestyle and make controlling your diabetes better.