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Diabetes gets a lot of attention for its effects on the heart, kidneys, and blood sugar. What tends to get overlooked is what it does to your eyes. More than 34 million Americans — roughly 1 in 10 — are living with diabetes. Many know about the broader health complications that come with it. Far fewer realize that diabetes is also one of the leading causes of blindness in adults in the United States. That's not a minor side note. It's the reason we recommend annual, comprehensive eye exams for anyone with a diabetes diagnosis. The good news is that when problems are caught early, there's a lot we can do. The key word is early. Book your diabetic eye exam today. To understand how diabetes affects your eyes, it helps to understand what's happening in the body first. When you eat, most of your food breaks down into glucose, which travels through the bloodstream. Rising blood sugar signals the pancreas to release insulin, a hormone that moves sugar out of the blood and into your cells where it can be used for energy. With diabetes, that process breaks down. Either the body stops making enough insulin, or it doesn't respond to insulin properly. Either way, sugar builds up in the bloodstream instead of getting where it needs to go. Over time, elevated blood sugar damages blood vessels throughout the body. Including the tiny, fragile ones inside your eyes. Even if your vision feels completely normal, that damage can be happening quietly in the background. That's exactly why exams matter even when you have no symptoms. People with diabetes are at increased risk of developing several eye conditions, some of which can cause permanent vision loss if they go untreated. Shifting blood sugar levels can cause the lens of the eye to swell, which temporarily changes how you focus. It can come and go, and it's often one of the first signs that blood sugar is fluctuating. Getting your blood sugar under control often improves this, but it's still worth mentioning at your exam. This is the most common diabetes-related eye condition. It develops when high blood sugar damages the blood vessels in the retina — the layer of tissue at the back of the eye that processes light and sends signals to the brain. In early stages, the vessels may leak fluid or bleed. In later stages, new, abnormal blood vessels can grow across the retina, which can cause significant vision loss. The condition can progress without any noticeable symptoms, which is why catching it early through a dilated eye exam is so important. The macula is the part of the retina responsible for sharp, central vision — the kind you use for reading, recognizing faces, and driving. Diabetic macular edema happens when damaged blood vessels leak fluid into the macula, causing it to swell and blurring central vision. It can develop at any stage of diabetic retinopathy. The reason we push for yearly exams rather than waiting until something feels wrong is simple: by the time you notice a change in your vision, the damage is often already at an advanced stage. A comprehensive diabetic eye exam lets us examine the retina directly. We can spot the early signs of retinopathy, macular edema, and other diabetes-related changes before they've had a chance to do serious harm. Early intervention means far better outcomes. If you have diabetes, this isn't optional care. It's part of managing your health — the same way you'd monitor your blood sugar or check in with your primary care doctor. Our team at Eye Fashion Wellness is here to help you stay ahead of any vision changes that diabetes might bring. We serve patients at both of our New Jersey locations, and we make it easy to stay on schedule with your annual exam. Jersey City — 30 Mall Drive West, Jersey City, NJ 07310 · 201-420-7733 Florham Park — 176 Columbia Turnpike, Florham Park, NJ 07932 (Trader Joe's plaza) · 973-994-1444What diabetes actually does in your body
What can go wrong with your vision
Blurry vision
Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic macular edema
Why annual exams are non-negotiable
Book your diabetic eye exam in Jersey City or Florham Park
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