If You Have Diabetes, Your Risk for Glaucoma May Be Higher

In one of the American study they estimated 3 million Americans have glaucoma, which can stealthily cause vision loss even before people realize they have the disease. People with diabetes face special risks from glaucoma. This January during Glaucoma Awareness Month, through its EyeSmart (TM) campaign, the American Academy of Ophthalmology in partnership with the American Glaucoma Society and the Glaucoma Research Foundation, remind Americans that knowing your glaucoma risks can save your sight and that people with diabetes need to be extra-vigilant.

Both diabetes and glaucoma are leading causes of blindness. In their early stages these diseases often have few symptoms, so damage may occur before people know they need treatment. Several large studies suggest that people with diabetes are more likely to develop glaucoma, and other data shows that glaucoma patients who are diabetic are more likely to suffer vision damage. If caught early, diabetes and glaucoma can usually be managed and vision can be saved.

About Glaucoma: Glaucoma damages the optic nerve that transmits images from the eye to the brain. As glaucoma worsens, cells also die in the retina -- a special, light-sensitive area of the eye -- which further reduces the optic nerve's function. In the most common form of the disease, primary open-angle glaucoma, often a patient first notices that her peripheral vision is reduced, then that other areas of her visual field are blank. But in many people glaucoma-related vision changes are so gradual that they go unnoticed, which is why regular eye exams are so important. Symptoms of the less common but more immediately dangerous closed-angle glaucoma include blurred vision, severe eye pain and headache, rainbow-colored halos around lights, and nausea and vomiting. Anyone with these symptoms needs to be seen by an Eye M.D. right away.