New Delhi: Glucose is an essential energy source for all living cells of the human body, which is programmed in a way wherein the glucose levels in the blood are maintained at an optimal level through various hormones.

Blood glucose levels are normally referred to as blood sugar levels in our day to day life. Diabetes is a condition wherein blood glucose levels are abnormally high. Consistently high glucose levels cause damage to various organs of the human body in the long run.

‘Diabetic Retinopathy’ is one such condition wherein abnormally high blood glucose or blood sugar levels cause slow, progressive and long-standing damage to the eyes.

Diabetes has now assumed the title of a silent global pandemic. With India set to become the diabetic capital of the world, the threat of visual loss due to diabetic retinopathy has gained massive proportions.

To understand how diabetes impacts the eyes, let us ? first understand the structure of the human eye. The human eye has structures and functions roughly equivalent to those of a simple camera. Similar to the light sensitive of a camera, the human eye has a light-sensitive structure called the retina.

It is this retina or the light sensitive structure of the human eye that is most adversely affected by diabetes. This condition is called diabetic retinopathy or is also referred to as diabetic eye disease in common understanding.

The advent of diabetic retinopathy simply starts as the appearance of small bleeding spots or “microaneurysms” on the surface of the retina. This is the initial stage of the disease or non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, wherein the vision remains reasonably good despite having an abnormality.

The retinal blood vessels eventually develop leaks that cause the retinal tissue to “swell up like a sponge” (also called macular edema) It is this stage wherein an individual’s vision starts getting affected and prompts her to seek medical attention.

Treatments like the application of laser spots to the retina or instilling injections into the eye at this stage are very effective if instituted in time.

If the blood sugar levels continue to remain uncontrolled, the retina suffers from larger bleeding spots and blood may entirely fill up the jelly inside the eye causing a sudden loss of vision. Many patients go undetected until this stage of the disease because they miss undergoing an eye check-up while they suffer from diabetes all these years.

In the later stages of the retina starts getting crumpled and this results in a near-permanent loss of vision and blindness. Major surgery is then required to remove the blood and fix the retina back to its original position. Despite multiple major surgeries, only a few individuals may gain back their original vision.

As the diabetic eye disease progresses through the late stages, the microscopic damage to the cells of the retina leads to permanent structural and functional changes that, unfortunately, cannot be reversed.

Early detection of diabetic retinopathy and early treatment is hence, the key to preventing permanent visual loss due to diabetic eye disease.

It is strongly recommended to get a retina evaluation for every diabetic individual, at least once in a year. This retina evaluation is performed by an eye doctor who is a retina specialist and usually takes about an hour at the doctor’s clinic.

Long-standing diabetes, poor blood sugar control, associated hypertension, and deranged lipid pro? These are the most important risk factors for the development and progression of diabetic eye disease. Hence, all diabetics must have regular evaluations with the physician.

The post How diabetes can affect your eyes appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Further to the findings, the Health Survey for England (HSE) revealed that 17% of men and 18% of women had ever had asthma diagnosed, and that as many as 27% of adults reported less than 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week – officially classifying them as “inactive”.

The nation-wide study, which consisted of 8,178 adults and 2,072 children, also found that 10% of men and 5% of women drink alcohol nearly every day, with older age groups more likely to drink regularly.

Caroline Cerny, alliance lead at the Obesity Health Alliance said that the consistently high rate of obesity is “sadly reflective of the environment we live in – one that is flooded with unhealthy food and drinks and relentless marketing to tell us to buy and eat more and more.”

She went on to say that “it doesn’t have to be like this,” as “25 years ago, rates of adult obesity were almost half what they are today. The Government can play a vital role in shaping our food environment to help us all be healthy.”

The sugar tax, or soft drink industry levy, was introduced on 6 April 2018 by the UK Government, as UK Ministers believe that the levy will help to reduce sugar in soft drinks and tackle childhood obesity, and according to HMRC, sugar tax receipts were £153.8 million to year end in October 2018.

Caroline continued: “This is why we need the next Government to urgently bring in new regulations to restrict the marketing of junk food and compel the food industry to make everyday food less sugary and calorific.”

Back in August the Scottish Obesity Alliance called on first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to introduce regulation to restrict price promotions and hopefully help “curb the obesity crisis.” The letter reminded that “whilst the rate of childhood obesity levels has slowed down, it has not stopped or started to decline”, before going on to call the situation a “major public health crisis.”

Also earlier this year, analysis from Cancer Research UK found that excess weight causes more cases of certain cancers than smoking, and that the number of people who are obese now outnumbers those who smoke two to one in the UK.

The data show that excess weight causes around 1,900 more cases of bowel cancer than smoking in the UK each year, while the same “worrying pattern” is seen in cancer in the kidneys (1,400 more cases caused by excess weight than by smoking each year), ovaries (460) and liver (180), the charity warned.

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