People with diabetes face an increased risk of developing diabetic eye disease, a group of diseases leading to vision loss or blindness. The most common type of diabetic eye disease is diabetic retinopathy, which involves changes to the blood vessels running through the retina of the eye. Other less common diabetic eye diseases include glaucoma and optic neuritis, both of which lead to damage of the optic nerve, the nerve that connects the eye to the brain. Damage to the optical nerve can cause several different symptoms.
Loss of Peripheral Vision
Glaucoma is a type of eye disease that can result from diabetes. In an eye affected by glaucoma, the pressure of fluid inside the eyeball builds up and presses on the optic nerve, explains the National Eye Institute. Left untreated, glaucoma often results in the slow loss of peripheral vision. Vision directly to the front may remain normal, whereas the objects around the edges of the vision may become blurry or completely lost from vision. Over time, more and more peripheral vision is lost, and individuals may see the world as if they were looking through a tunnel. Eventually, all vision may be lost if the glaucoma is not treated, warns the National Eye Institute.
Pain
Another type of eye disease that may develop as a complication of diabetes is optical neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve. Optical neuritis sometimes causes temporary vision loss, but a more common symptom is eye pain, MayoClinic.com reports. Eye pain that is caused by optic neuritis often gets worse with eye movement. In many cases of optic neuritis, the pain increases over the course of one week and then disappears within a few days.
Loss of Color Vision
Patients with diabetes who develop optic neuritis may experience changes in their perceptions of color, MayoClinic.com explains. Patients have reported that certain colors, especially red colors, may appear less vivid than usual and take on a "washed out" appearance. In some cases of optic neuritis, the pupil may also start reacting differently to bright light, according to MedlinePlus.
