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Diabetic Eye Disease (cont.)

Diabetic Eye Disease Symptoms

  • If the patient has fairly large, rapid shifts in their blood sugar levels, they may notice that their vision becomes blurry. This may occur prior to the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, or it may develop after the initiation of treatment or a change in treatment of diabetes mellitus. This difficulty with vision or focusing will disappear once blood sugar levels have been stable for approximately one week.

  • Even if the patient has background diabetic retinopathy or early proliferative diabetic retinopathy, it is possible that they may not have any symptoms, or they may experience mild-to-severe blurring or vision loss. Many people with severe diabetic eye disease may not realize that they have a vision problem until it is too late and permanent damage has already occurred.

  • If the patient has a cataract, vision may become blurry or hazy. At night, the patient may experience glare from oncoming lights.

  • If the patient has glaucoma, they may not experience any symptoms until a significant loss of vision has already occurred.



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