How
diabetes does affects brain and vision?
Effects of high blood glucose on brain
Some
symptoms of the impact of diabetes on the brain do not appear immediately,
especially if they are associated with high blood sugar.
In
diabetes, after some time, you have an increased risk of damage to blood
vessels, including tiny blood vessels of the brain. These lesions destroy the
white matter of the brain
White
matter is an essential part of the brain, by means of which the interaction of
nerve fibers. When the nerve endings of the brain are damaged, you can get
various changes in thinking, for example, vascular cognitive impairment or
vascular dementia.
If
you control your diabetes well, you simply avoid the development of
hypoglycemia - low blood sugar levels. But it should be remembered that the low
level of sugar in the blood carries much more serious and obvious implications
for the brain than elevated blood sugar.
Patients
with type 2 diabetes are more prone to the development of various vascular
complications of the brain, as they tend to be have poor metabolism, low levels
of good cholesterol (HDL, HDL), high triglycerides and high blood pressure, and
they are likely to suffer from overweight or obese
Hypoglycemia,
even light, is usually very difficultly tolerated by patients in unlike when
they have high sugar. Low blood glucose worsens mood and complicated thought
processes of the brain. You can have a headache, dizziness, impaired
coordination, can be difficult to walk or speak. Very low blood sugar can cause
seizures or convulsions, cause fainting or lead to a hypoglycemic coma.Repeated
episodes of hypoglycemia can cause serious problems.
So
far, scientists have not yet made final conclusions if repeated episodes of
hypoglycemia have long-term affects on memory or the risk of developing
dementia. One large study showed that low levels of blood sugar does not have
long-term effects on memory or the ability to think in patients with type 1 diabetes.
However, another study showed that there is a correlation between the
occurrence of episodes of severe hypoglycemia, and increased risk of dementia
in older people with type 2 diabetes.
The
bottom line is that careful control of diabetes is extremely important. The low
level of glucose in the blood will not lead you to dementia, but you will feel
bad. High levels of blood glucose, on the contrary, not much degrade your
health but can cause problems with dementia.
Effects of high blood glucose on vision
One
of the most common diseases which effects the eyes is diabetes, this condition
is called diabetic retinopathy and it is one of the complications of diabetes,
which resulted in the dysfunctions of blood circulation and metabolism, and the
person may even lose vision. Therefore, at diagnosis of diabetes doctors’advice
urgently to address not only to the endocrinologist and an ophthalmologist.
The
pathological process cause by high glucose affects the retina, which disrupts
its normal blood circulation. This organ, as if trying to help itself, launches
a compensatory mechanism, an active growth of new vessels for retina. But they
are so thin and brittle that they themselves become the cause of bleeding
inside the eye. So there is a vicious circle that leads to the development of
secondary glaucoma and retinal detachment.
The
main treatment in such cases is laser coagulation, it often allows to preserve
vision or cause blindness. An endocrinologist who first identified diabetes in
person, knowing about such consequences, shall immediately send the patient to
an ophthalmologist for examination.
In
any stages of a diabetic retinopathy if you control your sugar, your eye will
preserved for long time. At the same, to achieve this goal, the person need to
change lifestyle, diet and habits. Prohibit smoking, alcohol, sweet. It is
necessary to follow a diet, taking hypoglycemic agents, not to worry, and
regularly observed by doctors.
