Dizziness and Diabetic Retinopathy (complications with eyesight)

Dizziness and changes in vision (eyesight) are symptoms of diabetes complications

Dizziness from Low Blood Pressure. Contraction and expansion of the blood vessels regulate the flow of blood. When the autonomic nerves controlling contraction and expansion of the blood vessels are damaged, the blood does not flow as it should. 

In such a condition, if for example, you suddenly rise from a lying position to a standing position, the vessels will not contract with sufficient force to supply the added amount of blood you need on rising, and your blood pressure will fall causing dizziness. This is a form of low blood pressure called orthostatic hypotension which causes dizziness and can cause one to faint.

Diabetic Retinopathy (EyeSight Effected). The damage caused to the blood vessels in the retina due to diabetes is called diabetic retinopathy. It is a degenerative disease of the retina and the most frequently occurring eye disease in people with diabetes. More than 5.3 million adult Americans are affected by diabetic retinopathy.

Over time, raised blood sugar levels injure the blood vessels of almost all the organs in your body. When this damaging process occurs in the retina, the tiny vessels supplying blood to the retina become weak and tend to break. 

This process damages the retina and affects the eyesight. Almost all people with type 1, and more than 60 percent of people with type 2 diabetes have some degree of eye damage during the first 20 years of diabetes. Eye damage from diabetes is a leading cause of blindness in adult Americans, and it is estimated that it makes nearly 24,000 people blind every year in the United States. 

However, what is interesting is that about 90 percent of the cases of blindness related to diabetes can be prevented by timely diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy is of two forms: nonproliferative and proliferative.

Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (NPDR). When persistently raised blood sugar levels injure tiny blood vessels of the retina, the area around each injury on the tiny vessel swells like a pouch, which is called a micro aneurysm. These pouches fill with blood and fluid, a condition that may resolve over time, remain unchanged, or cause leakage in the retina. 

Leakage of blood (hemorrhage) and fluid (exudates) in the retina leads to blurring of vision (eyesight). Sight, however, is cleared in several weeks or months. When the doctor examines the affected eyes, the pouches will appear as tiny yellow patches and the hemorrhages look like dots and blots. 

However, NPDR, which is also called background retinopathy, is not sight threatening. For most people, retinopathy may not progress beyond the background stage. But when the leakages occur and collect in the macula, the macula swells. Swelling of the macula is called macular edema that may cause sight loss.

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