The best way to avoid diabetes-related vision loss is to prevent eye complications in the first place through blood glucose control, lifestyle changes, and possibly medical interventions like bariatric surgery or preventive drug treatments. 

Although there are many promising treatments for retinopathy. Similar to how treating diabetic kidney disease is important, so are efforts to prevent it. These include blood glucose control as well as lifestyle changes like proper diet and avoiding obesity.


Preventions Of Diabetic Retinopathy(eye disease)

According to a recent study published in the journal Diabetes Care, patients with type 1 diabetes who maintain an A1C level (a measurement of long-term blood glucose management) below 7%—a frequently advised goal—can help avoid significant eye and kidney negative effects.

Two of the most significant and possibly incapacitating problems that can arise from persistently raised blood glucose levels are diabetic retinopathy (eye disease) and chronic kidney disease. In the absence of better diagnostic and treatment initiatives, diabetic retinopathy, which is on the rise globally, is anticipated to lead to widespread vision loss.


Study's Monitoring Procedure:

The most recent study followed 447 Southeast Swedish people with type 1 diabetes from the moment of their diagnosis before age 35, between 1983 and 1987, until 2019. patients' A1C levels were monitored throughout the course of this decades-long follow-up period, and researchers developed a composite A1C measure known as long-term weighted average A1C that they used to classify patients into five categories of long-term blood glucose control.

After 32 years of monitoring, just 9% of participants had no retinopathy, while 27% and 64% of those who did had proliferative retinopathy, the more severe variety. 83% of the participants had no microalbuminuria (lower amounts of protein in the urine), 9% had microalbuminuria, and 8% had microalbuminuria (greater amounts of protein in the urine), which is a sign of renal disease.


Reduced risk of problems is associated with near-normal A1C.

Participants with weighted A1C values indicating nearly normal blood glucose levels did not develop proliferative retinopathy or macroalbuminuria, according to the study's findings. In actuality, the lowest weighted A1C levels associated with the onset of these diseases were 8.1% for macroalbuminuria and 7.3% for proliferative retinopathy. On the other hand, 74% of patients in the highest weighted A1C category—those with a weighted A1c level higher than 9.5%—had proliferative retinopathy, and 44% had macroalbuminuria.

According to the study's findings, weighted average A1C from the time type 1 diabetes was diagnosed is "a very strong biomarker" for identifying eye and renal issues. 

They concluded that in order to prevent these issues, patients with type 1 diabetes should strive for A1C values that are below 7% and as close to normal as they can be without suffering from hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) or having a worse quality of life.