Children with diabetes are for the most part, type I diabetics, which means they are dependent on insulin for control of their blood sugars. Adults may take a pill or inject insulin for control of their diabetes. The longer you have diabetes, the more the risk of visual loss from the diabetes. Diabetics have a 25 x higher risk of becoming blind compared to non-diabetics because of diabetic retinopathy. All diabetics should have a yearly eye exam by an ophthalmologist to screen for this.
Diabetics are also at a higher risk for cataracts and glaucoma.
Diabetic retinopathy usually can be treated successfully with laser to prevent progression towards severe visual loss. Many times diabetic patients many not experience symptoms until too late, therefore do not let good vision fool you. Many forms of diabetic retinopathy can be stopped with laser. If a patient has already started to lose vision, it is hard to reverse this vision loss. It is much easier to prevent vision loss from occurring by doing early laser treatment, sometimes even before symptoms start.