Celebrated hip-hop-oriented entertainer and educator, Andre “Doctor Dre” Brown has recently lost his vision from mismanagement of type 2 diabetes.
“My stubbornness put me where I’m at. Now my energy is going to change that,” Doctor Dre told the NYTimes. “We got young people, grown people, old, all having this. We can prevent this. We can cure this. I have an idea how to do it.”
He spoke to WABC about complications stemming from his struggle with type 2 diabetes.
“I had my retinas reattached, so I didn’t go totally blind from the diabetes. In the reattachment, I have scar tissue behind my eyes, so when that kind of fluctuates, my vision comes back,” he said.
Long-term mismanaged diabetes can lead to high blood sugar levels that damage small blood vessels over time. This damage can lead to problems with a part of the eye called the retina. This can create blurred vision. In a person with diabetes, fluid can move into and out of the eye due to high blood sugar levels.
Dre has been fighting type 2 diabetes for years, which has caused him to also lose a toe, according to ABC.
“I have a foundation called the Doctor Dré V.I.C (Visually Impaired Can) Foundation.
From 1989 to 1995, he co-hosted “Yo! MTV Raps” with Ed Lover, the tv show that did more than any other to make rap music and hip-hop culture global phenomena.
Diabetes-related retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness in American adults and it affects over 1 in 4 of those living with diabetes, while 4% have severe cases of retinopathy. Diabetes-related macular edema is a swelling that can occur with retinopathy.
November has been declared by Prevent Blindness as Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month to educate the public on the effects of diabetes on vision, risk factors and treatment options. Prevent Blindness offers a variety of free resources dedicated to the education of diabetic eye disease at preventblindness.org/diabetes.