Cambridge Church of Seventh-day Adventists, Medford MA

Diabetes and Glaucoma:

According to several studies, there is evidence that there is a link between diabetes and glaucoma with women who are diabetics. Women seem to have a 70% increased risk of developing the most common form of glaucoma.

Glaucoma occurs when there is a gradual increase in the normal fluid pressure inside the eye, which in turn causes damage to the optic nerve, resulting in vision loss and blindness.

It usually does not have any early symptoms, so for a diabetic, it is important to have regular eye exams, as there is no other way to detect glaucoma. Equally important for a diabetic is to keep the blood sugar levels down both pre-meal and post-meal. Diabetic retinopathy, a disease which damages the tiny blood vessels in the retina (the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye) is the most common diabetic eye disease. During their lifetime, nearly half of the nation’s estimated 16 million people with diabetes will develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy, and as many as 25,000 people go blind annually.

by: National Eye Institute