Melissa W. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.
Diabetes is a cause I care deeply about, which is why I was particularly interested in the topic of a press release distributed yesterday. A VSP study discovered a strong relationship between corneal arcus (a grayish-white ring around the cornea) and high fasting blood sugar.
What exactly does this mean? Well, further research needs to be conducted, but these preliminary results show that eye exams may provide even more opportunities for the early detection of diabetes. For all of you who are impacted by this disease, you know this is huge. The earlier diabetes is detected, the sooner a person can start managing their disease and avoiding complications. Knowledge is power. If you don’t know you have diabetes, you can’t get the treatment you need.
This is also an important finding for the healthcare industry and reinforces the fact that eyecare plays a critical role in overall health. This is especially true for the majority of US citizens who see their eye doctor more often than their primary care physician. When an eye doctor sees signs of a chronic disease through an eye exam, there’s an opportunity to educate the patient about their health and refer them to their doctor for follow-up care.