Diabetes can be accompanied by heart disease, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, kidney disease and many other complications, of which one type of complication, although not life-threatening, seriously affects the quality of life of patients, and that is diabetic eye disease.
1, the main eye complications caused by diabetes are.
(1) diabetic retinopathy: including retinal microaneurysms, hemorrhages and exudates, and venous condensation expansion or occlusion, which will further develop into proliferative lesions and eventually lead to serious states such as vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, and even blindness. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most frequent changes of diabetes in the eye.
(2) Diabetic macular degeneration: It is one of the main causes of vision loss.
(3) Diabetic cataract: The main change is clouding of the lens, and its incidence is second only to diabetic retinopathy.
(4) Diabetic iridocyclitis.
(5) Diabetic refractive error.
(6) Diabetic extraocular muscle paralysis.
(7) Neovascular glaucoma.
(8) Diabetic ocular infectious disease (mydriasis, retrobulbar cysts, etc.).
(9) Diabetic keratopathy.
(10) Diabetic optic neuropathy.
2. Which diabetic patients are more likely to have ocular lesions?
(1) Type I diabetes. According to statistics, 90% of patients have ocular complications within 20 years after the onset of the disease.
(2) Occult diabetes. Patients who have not had any typical manifestations of diabetes for a long time often believe that they are healthy and have not undergone any treatment, so that the intrinsic lesions of diabetes such as microvascular damage continue to develop and the eyes, which are rich in microvasculature, are prone to various damages. Patients of this type are often found to have diabetes only due to the onset of eye disease and other complications.
(3) Diabetic patients with poor glycemic control. Some diabetic patients are not given regular treatment after a clear diagnosis. Or fail to adhere to long-term treatment, or because once the blood sugar is normal. The urine glucose is negative, so they think that the diabetes is cured and terminate the treatment, etc. This makes the blood glucose concentration in the body remain high, and then the metabolism and dysfunction of many organs in the body occur, and various complications including eye disease are likely to occur.
3.The severity of eye complications depends on the duration of the disease
Diabetic ophthalmopathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes and is an important cause of blindness. The appearance of diabetic eye disease does not depend on the severity of diabetes, the severity of symptoms and whether or not it is insulin dependent, but mainly on the duration of the disease, the longer the duration of diabetes, the higher the incidence of diabetic eye disease. The incidence of diabetic eye disease is directly proportional to the duration of diabetes, and the longer the duration of the disease, the higher the incidence.
4, grasp the first opportunity to resist the sugar demon invasion of the eyes
Early detection and early treatment is the key to a good prognosis for diabetic eye disease, especially for the preservation of effective vision is extremely important. Some diabetic patients with ocular comorbidities, after early diagnosis and timely and effective treatment, the ocular lesions are quiescent, or the development is delayed, or the condition is reduced, and some can even be reversed. For example, in diabetic refractive error and ocular muscle paralysis, after early treatment such as blood sugar control, all abnormalities in refraction can be eliminated and eye muscle movement can be completely restored to normal. For example, in diabetic cataracts, when mild clouding of the lens is detected at an early stage, the clouding of the lens can be stopped or even reversed to clear after active treatment of the cause and symptomatic treatment. Like diabetic retinopathy, if the primary disease is treated immediately after early detection, supplemented by laser photocoagulation, the progression of retinopathy can be suspended or slowed down, alleviating the disease and preserving vision. On the contrary, if diabetic eye disease is not detected early and treated early, or if it is detected early but not actively treated, then the patient’s condition will continue to worsen, and eventual loss of vision will occur.
5, eye care often health care
Eye health care has the role of promoting blood circulation in the eye, improving the nutritional status of the eye and eliminating visual fatigue, which is of positive significance for the prevention and treatment of eye diseases. The following are three simple and practical methods.
(1) Double vision soon.
(2) to transport the eyes to dispel eye diseases.
(3) massage through the qi and blood.
6, emotions need to be adjusted
Traditional medicine believes that the liver is open to the eyes, the eyes are moistened by the liver blood, the liver likes to drain, and evil depression, once the liver qi stagnation, it will involve the eyes. As diabetic patients usually have mood swings, irritability, and difficulty in self-control, it often causes blood sugar fluctuations, which affects the visual function of the eyes. For those who have eye disease, the liver fire is even more exuberant, resulting in blurred vision and blood congestion in the eyes. Therefore, emotional adjustment is extremely important for diabetic patients. Those who are depressed should vent out their bad emotions as soon as possible to achieve a relative psychological balance, so that the liver can be drained and the blood sugar can be stabilized. Family members should help the patient to de-escalate and guide the patient, let the patient tell the patient and vent the patient’s feelings, or use methods such as talking and shopping to transfer the patient’s bad mood and eliminate worries. In addition, through a variety of cultural and sports activities, such as tai chi, elderly disco, painting, calligraphy, movies, travel, etc., with the help of easy to transfer the patient’s emotions can be adjusted.
7.Moderate sex life
Sexual life is indispensable for middle-aged diabetic patients, but do not be too frequent. Chinese medicine believes that the eyes and the liver and kidneys are the closest relationship, such as liver and kidney essence and blood deficiency, then blurred vision, eyes, eye soreness, eye fatigue, etc.. Sexual life is excessive, the loss of essence and fluid, so that the purpose of the source of nourishment depleted, resulting in a variety of eye disease. Therefore, the preservation of the essence of the eyes is essential. The number of sexual intercourse should be the next day after the intercourse does not cause weakness, dizziness, mental discomfort as the principle. In the late stage of diabetes complicating eye disease, even without frequent sexual life, there will be liver and kidney deficiency and lack of qi and blood. In this regard, it is advisable to use products that nourish the liver and kidneys and regulate qi and blood, such as Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan, Ming Mu Di Huang Wan, Qiao Ju Di Huang Wan, etc. These Chinese medicines have the effect of tonifying the kidneys and brightening the eyes, can be taken as appropriate.
8, eye disease from the mouth to prevent
Diabetic patients usually in addition to avoid sweet food, but also must be contraindicated the following foods.
Spicy products pepper, garlic, onions, ginger, leeks, mustard, curry and other spicy products, easy to help the fire on the inflammation, liver damage to the eyes, so should not eat. Smoke and alcohol products Chinese medicine believes that smoke can help evil and hurt the fluid, wine can brew moisture and heat. Both are causes of eye disease. Modern medicine also confirmed that the nicotine in cigarettes can cause vasoconstriction, resulting in eye nutritional disorders; carbon monoxide in cigarettes can make the hemoglobin’s pro-oxygen capacity decreases, causing severe oxygen deprivation of the lens, so that eye disease is not easy to improve. As you can see, it is best for diabetic patients to quit smoking. Moderate alcohol consumption has the effect of promoting blood circulation, but the opposite is true, a large amount of alcohol can cause blood sugar fluctuations, but also accelerate blood circulation, dilation of blood vessels. Therefore, people with eye disease should avoid alcohol, and those with fundus bleeding must abstain from alcohol.
Generally speaking, diabetic patients have high blood lipid levels, and because the blood of hyperlipidemia patients is highly viscous, the blood flow is slower than normal, so the blood flow to the eyes is relatively reduced, which can easily cause nutritional disorders of the eyes. Likewise, hyperlipidemia is also prone to fundus arteriosclerosis, which causes fundus dystrophy and hemorrhage, leading to ocular metabolic disorders. Therefore, diabetic patients should avoid foods such as lard, butter, egg yolk, animal offal, whole milk, and ice cream to avoid aggravating the nutritional disorders of the lens and inducing fundus lesions due to elevated blood lipids.