Diabetics can avoid blindness through regular eye exams
According to Dr. Victor Malinovsky of the IU School of Optometry, a regular eye exam once a year can help detect serious eye damage in diabetics.
Nearly half of the nation's estimated 18 million people with diabetes will develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy, the most common form of diabetic eye disease, said Dr. Victor Malinovsky of the Indiana University School of Optometry.
Typically, diabetic retinopathy has no early symptoms. Malinovsky said vision impairment does not develop until the disease has advanced into its later stages, but by then vision loss cannot be restored. This makes it crucial to have regular dilated eye exams before any vision is lost.
"Taking just an hour or so to have a dilated eye examination at least once a year can save people with diabetes from a lifetime of blindness," Malinovsky said.
Diabetic retinopathy damages the tiny blood vessels in the retina, the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye. As many as 25,000 people annually go blind from the disorder, making it a leading cause of blindness among working-aged Americans. More than 90 percent of the cases of blindness can be prevented with early detection and timely treatment, Malinovsky said, yet only 60 percent of people with diabetes receive annual dilated eye exams.
"We want to make this information common knowledge among people with diabetes so they realize that while eye disease is a possible complication of diabetes, vision loss is not inevitable," Malinovsky said.
Annual dilated eye exams are key to preventing diabetic retinopathy. People with diabetes can also take the following steps:
- Take prescribed medications as instructed
- Stick to a suitable diet
- Exercise regularly
- Control high blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- Avoid alcohol and smoking
More information about diabetic retinopathy can be found at the Web site of the National Eye Institute, http://www.nei.nih.gov/.
