Despite the fact that diabetics are at increased risk for vision loss, patients who experience frequent low blood sugar may experience slightly more eye damage. As a result, frequent low blood sugar levels can aggravate diabetes-related vision problems. Scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reported that as a patient’s blood sugar level decreases, the supply of oxygen to the eye’s associated cells is also affected, and as a result, this process occurs repeatedly and vision may deteriorate.
In this study, human and rat eye cells with retinas were grown in the lab by abruptly depriving them of sugar, and the results were recorded. The study is published in the most recent issue of the scientific journal Cell Reports.
According to university researcher Akrit Sodhi and his colleagues, diabetics who take insulin and experience twice-daily blood sugar drops below normal may sustain additional eye damage. According to him, diabetic patients who do not take insulin can also experience this condition, which can occur while sleeping. This reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to the eye on the one hand, and on the other hand, it makes the cellular proteins in the retina grow, which thickens the blood vessels and could make it harder for diabetics to see.
Researchers assert that this change occurs at the cellular and molecular level of the eye, despite the need for further research on the entire process. The expression of a gene called GLUT1 then increases, and a protein that reduces oxygen further is produced.
Scientists have also found out the complete mechanism (pathway) of this process and are now doing more research.
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