This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Peter Tang about potential diabetes related vision changes. Dr. Tang is an ophthalmologist at MUSC Storm Eye Institute, specializing in retina surgery and ocular oncology.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. People with diabetes may develop significant changes in their vision. Doctor Peter Tang is here to talk about the details. Doctor Tang is an ophthalmologist at MUSC Storm Eye Institute specializing in retina surgery and ocular oncology. Doctor Tang, tell us about these possible vision changes in people with diabetes.
Dr. Tang: People with diabetes have problems with blood flow to their eyes, and the different blood vessels are not capable of bringing blood that contains oxygen and nutrients to the eyes. And that's when they develop significant issues with bleeding, with swelling, and that can cause problems such as macular edema as well as diabetic retinopathy. And these conditions are very common in folks in the United States. Diabetes is probably the most common cause of vision loss in the United States in folks aside from cataracts.
Conner: Are there distinct symptoms that someone might notice if these conditions are developing?
Dr. Tang: So, when folks have swelling of their eyes from the diabetic macular edema, they have an impact in the blurriness of the central vision. So, that's your ability to read, to look at your phone, to watch TV, to drive. And that's different from the diabetic retinopathy, where people can have bleeding in the back of their eyes. And that's when you can get floaters or your vision just goes really dark.
Conner: And tell us about the management and treatment of these eye conditions.
Dr. Tang: So, the way I look at treatment would be kind of a ladder. At the bottom rungs of the ladder are very mild treatments such as lifestyle modifications, diet control, things like that, exercise. And then as you escalate with the disease, as it progresses and gets more serious, that's when we start thinking about laser treatments in clinic, injections of medications inside the eyes, and ultimately major invasive eye surgery, which we always want to try to prevent by trying to nip the problem early on so it doesn't snowball into a much bigger deal for our patients.
Conner: What can be done to help reduce the risk of developing these eye conditions for someone who has diabetes?
Dr. Tang: The biggest thing that someone with diabetes can do to promote their eye health is to stay invested, engaged and informed. And that all starts with working very closely with your care team. And that can be from anyone from your dietitian to your personal trainer, to your primary care physician, to your ophthalmologist, to come to your appointments, to work hard with the professionals and try to keep your diabetes under control.
Conner: When someone is newly diagnosed with diabetes. How quickly do they need to get their eyes checked and what would go on from there?
Dr. Tang: So, when someone is newly diagnosed with diabetes, they should have their eyes examined immediately. And the reason is that we would want to see the patient early in their disease state, because we want to establish a very concrete baseline examination so that any future changes or issues that they experience with their vision, we would have a good foundation for comparison for folks with very mild diabetes disease in their eyes. Oftentimes we still want to see them on a yearly basis. Now that could be still with the retina doctor, but more often than not, that could be an optometrist or a comprehensive ophthalmologist in the community.
Conner: Doctor Tang, thanks for this information about possible vision issues for people with diabetes.
Dr. Tang: You're welcome. Bobbi. It's been a pleasure.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
