The average woman takes 17 minutes to apply eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara and groom the eyebrows before going out for the night. If you spend that much time making your eyes look beautiful, why not spend a little extra finding out what’s happening inside them?
Make time for an annual eye exam. The macular edema and proliferative retinopathy treatments can prevent vision loss and even restore some of your lost vision.
Can You Reserve Diabetic Retinopathy?
You can’t reserve diabetic retinopathy. But we can reduce our risk of developing diabetic retinopathy or help stop it from worsening by keeping our blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels under tighter management.
Divabetic Tip
Create your healthcare entourage of healthcare collaborators who address your needs. Trying to manage all the aspects of diabetes can be overwhelming. If you’re not tech-savvy, it can be downright frustrating. It’s okay to ask for help. Managing diabetes means managing the health of the whole body. This is why you’ll want a diabetes care team with specialists from different fields.
These can include:
- Primary Care Provider (PCP): This doctor (MD or DO), nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) gives you routine medical care, including physical exams, lab tests and prescriptions for medication.
- Endocrinologist: This doctor (MD or DO) specializes in diabetes and other diseases of the endocrine system (the system that produces hormones such as insulin).
- Ophthalmologist or Optometrist: This doctor (MD/DO or OD), also known as an eye doctor, diagnoses and treats eye diseases and disorders.
- Podiatrist (DPM): This doctor, also known as a foot doctor, is trained to treat feet and lower leg problems.
- Pharmacist (PharmD): This professional knows about medicines, what’s in them, and how they interact with each other.
- Dentist (DMD or DDS): This doctor knows about oral care and is trained to care for your teeth and gums.
- Registered Nurse/Nurse Navigator (RN): A nurse in your doctor’s office who helps coordinate your health care needs.
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RD/RDN): A dietitian is a nutrition expert (what food your particular body needs to stay healthy). Talking to a registered dietitian nutritionist, not your yoga instructor, will help you use what you eat and drink as tools for managing your blood glucose.
- Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES): Previously known as Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs), these are health care providers with extensive training and experience working with people with diabetes who have passed a credentialed board exam. They can help you figure out how to manage what you need to do to manage your diabetes in a way that fits with your daily life, routines, environment, and family dynamics.
- Mental Health Professional: This person may be a psychiatrist (MD or DO), psychologist (PhD) or clinical social worker (LCSW or LISW). These professionals can help you deal with the day-to-day challenges of living with diabetes and more serious emotional issues. Be sure to work with a mental health professional who understands diabetes and the medicine and insulin you take that may affect your blood glucose.
- Fitness Professional: A physical activity specialist may be an exercise physiologist, personal trainer, or physical therapist. These professionals can help you find safe exercises and ensure you get the most out of your exercise program. Be sure to work with a fitness professional who understands diabetes and the medicine and insulin you are taking that may affect your blood glucose.
Choose diabetes care team members who can provide the level of support you want and help when needed. The more information you can give when you get help, the easier it is for someone to assist you.
On this episode of Divabetic’s podcast, we’re discussing diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the blood vessels in the tissue at the back of the eye (retina). Poorly controlled blood sugar is a risk factor. Early symptoms include floaters, blurriness, dark areas of vision, and difficulty perceiving colors. Blindness can occur.
Podcast guests include singer Alfa Anderson, Diabetic Macular Edema patient Maryanne Kass, Artist Bryce Chisholm, Poet Lorraine Brooks, and Mama Rose Marie. Throughout the podcast, we will feature selected songs from several of Maxwell’s albums courtesy of SONY Music.
