Complications

Image courtesy of dea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of dea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Eye
 
One of the complications of diabetes is eye damage, also known as diabetic retinopathy. This can occur due to high levels of sugar in your blood, damaging the blood vessels that nourish the retina or even blocking them off completely (nonproliferative retinopathy). The retina is a light-sensitive tissue located at the back of the eye. As more and more of the blood supply to the retina is cutoff, the eye tries to create new blood vessels, but they don’t develop properly and can leak easily (proliferative retinopathy). Scar tissue can also form, and may pull at the retina and detach it. All of these factors can cause vision loss or blindness, and the longer you have diabetes, the more at risk you are for diabetic retinopathy.
 
A comparison illustration depicting diaebetic retinopathy

A comparison illustration depicting diaebetic retinopathy. Image courtesy of commons.wikipedia.org

Image courtesy of tiverylucky / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of tiverylucky / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Foot
 
Foot damage most often occurs due to nerve damage (or neuropathy), and, although it can hurt, it can decease your ability to feel pain, heat, and cold. Diabetes-related metabolic or vascular conditions can inflict capillary damage, leading to nerve damage and loss of sensation. Without feeling in the foot, injuries (such as blisters, cuts, rock in shoe, etc.) can go unnoticed for hours or days, and become infected as a result of neglect. Loss of sensation and circulation problems increase the risk of infection, ulcers, and gangrene.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hearing
 
Though there is no known cause for hearing loss in diabetics, nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes, and an estimated 34.5 Americans have some form of hearing loss. Between these two large groups, a lot of overlap is found; in a recent study, hearing loss was found to be twice as common in those who had the disease than those who didn’t. There is speculation that high blood glucose levels damage small blood vessels in the inner ear, similar to the way diabetes damages the eyes and the kidneys. Previous studies have suggested that this was true but it has yet to be proven. Presently, more research is necessary to pinpoint the correlation between diabetes and higher rates of hearing loss.

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