November is American Diabetes Month. Do you know that our eye doctors are sometimes the first person to see the symptoms of diabetes? One out of three people that have diabetes don’t even know it. Just because they’re unaware, doesn’t mean the disease isn’t causing problems for them.
Diabetes can damage the eyes and lead to blindness. Studies have even shown that diabetic eye disease can occur as early as the pre-diabetes stage. As with many eye conditions, there are no warning signs to let a person know they need to get their eyes checked. Regular eye exams can prevent blindness caused by diabetes 90% of the time.
When our doctors see symptoms of diabetes, they refer their patient to the primary care physician for follow-up care. This can make the difference between a person managing their condition or not. When you consider that people see their eye doctor more often than they have an annual check-up, our doctors play an important role in a person’s overall health.
Think about how important your eye sight and your health are to you. It makes sense that an annual eye exam should be a priority for everyone. As we continue to make progress with how we treat and manage this disease, we all have to work together. At VSP, we are committed to making a difference. VSP is not just a vision insurance company. We are an eye health company. Eye health is an important part of healthcare and particularly important for people that have diabetes.
One tip for controlling diabetes is to keep your diet in balance. Try not to consume a lot of unhealthy foods, instead, eat fruits, vegetables, lean cold cuts, oily fish and unsaturated fats. You will feel significantly better and there will be a visible difference.
I enjoyed the article on diabetes education. The more we educate our patients on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy the better. We feel patient education is critical in keeping our eyes healthy. In our office we like to direct our patients to our website to inform them about common ocular diseases and conditions. I hope this article, What You Want to Know About Diabetic Retinopathy, answers the readers questions. BTW, love the blog.
John,Thanks for your question. An eyecare professional can help determine best courses of treatment for all vision issues.In the case of diabetic retinopathy, there is no way to reverse the effects of the disease. The progression of retinopathy can be treated in order to slow or stop future vision loss. There are several procedures or techniques available and the patient should seek a consultation with an eyecare professional to discuss those viable options.-Rob
tanks sir for information on Diabetes and blindness. I wanna ask a question. If a person have already got blind by diabetes, is it possible for cure or heal it?thanks