Dad has diabetic retinopathy would changing his diet now slow it down?

[northender]

He had laser treatment for it yesterday. He's not brilliant at sticking to his diet. Would it make a difference to the rate of progression if he changed now? Feel so helpless, Mum's really worried and he's not good at helping himself just feeling sorry for himself now.

there was an article about this in the sunday times this week..yes it's a;ways worth trying to control blood sugar levels whatevere stasge you're at, not just for eyes...

Thanks zippi will see if I can find that

have a look on the Moorfields website, \link{http://www.moorfields.org.uk/EyeHealth/DiabeticRetinopathy\here}

How old is your Dad? My mum has this & the laser treatment made a considerable improvement. She has been a diabetic since her 30s & she is now 70+ and is only very average about keeping her blood sugar levels within range.
If your dad has been diabetic for a long time alot of damage has already occured. I guess it is now a tough call between eyesight for the remainder of his life & food enjoyment. No answers for you really.
Also takes a while for the full benefit of the laser treatment to show. Mum's eyes were not fully better and improved until about 2/3 months after the laser proceedure.

this \link{http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,18030-2143512.html\ is the article..it is probably not especially relevant to him but might encourage him to take more care with his diet}

Thanks so much all. He's 61 bugsy. I think my mum's going to try changing his diet gradually without him noticing!

a gi diet is good for diabetics, as it helps keep blood sugars steady

I think it's always a good idea to control diabetes whatever stage he's at. As I understand it the sugary blood is slightly acidic so erodes certain tissue (like in the retina) leading to tissue damange over time.

Is he getting plenty of medical support re controlling his blood sugar?

How long has he been diabetic for?

Thing is he needs to keep doing blood sugar tests, as when you change the diet you need to keep an eye on insulin levels too. My mum has developed extra thick skin on her finger tips from testing so often!!!
Zippitoes is right though, GI diets are good for diabetics. Mum changed from toast to porridge for breakfast & it made a big difference to her levels.

There are lots of good diabetic cookbooks which, as zippi says, are basically about GI or GL.

the other thing to limit is alcoholic drinks

I've seen my mum today and taken her a couple of books I got from the library one being a GI cookbook. She seems a bit calmer now and has some ideas on how to change his diet without him really noticing. As to whether he'll drink less alcohol well I doubt it. So frustrating when you see how easily someone could make a difference to their health and yet seem reluctant to do it

Is he taking meds? Does he exercise? It is possible to manage diabetes with less dietary care, from what I know, although of course a careful diet is a very good thing.