Diabetic Retinal Screening: Protect Your Eyes from Diabetes

A complex condition that can take away even your vision, diabetes affects 34 million, or 1 in every 10, people across the country. Although proper diet, exercise, and medications like insulin help control it, diabetes still puts you at risk of developing a host of other health issues. 

One of the most common complications that could stem from diabetes is diabetic retinopathy, a condition that, if left untreated, can lead to blurry eyesight and, ultimately, blindness. Diabetic retinopathy affects 7.7 million people in the US — a number feared to double by 2050. 

Caused by high blood sugar levels, diabetic retinopathy damages the retina (back of the eye), altering its structure and function. Much like any other condition, however, early detection is key to preventing it. That’s why we’ve started offering retinal screenings here at Allmed.

Even if diabetic retinopathy usually takes years before it poses a severe threat to your eyesight, it is best to get screened regularly to minimize your risk. Pregnant women, people of Asian and Afro-Caribbean descent, those with persistently high sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels, and those who have had diabetes for a long time are at greater risk of diabetic retinopathy. If you fall in any of those categories, make sure never to miss your annual screenings.

Diabetic Retinal Screening

Aside from closely monitoring and maintaining your sugar and blood pressure levels, one of the best ways to reduce your risk of diabetic retinopathy is to regularly get screened, especially for adults aged 22 or older who have been previously diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetic retinal screening is a test that checks for any diabetes-related eye problems before they affect your eyesight.

Most eye exams usually require face-to-face appointments for the doctor to examine your eyes closely. However, with the pandemic in full swing, it’s understandable to have reservations. That’s why here at Allmed, aside from strictly adhering to the highest COVID safety standards, we conduct our diabetic retinal screenings without human intervention. Using IDx-Dr, an FDA-approved autonomous AI device, we can examine your eyes for lesions through a retinal camera and analyze the images. The presence of lesions can be a sign of retinal damage caused by diabetes.

Following preventive health measures like diabetic retinal screening is vital for your overall long term health. It’s also an effective way to avoid other diabetes-related eye problems like glaucoma, a condition that puts added pressure on your eyes. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the US, and having diabetes doubles your odds of getting it.

More than 3 million people in the country are suffering from glaucoma, but as much as 40% of them don’t even know they have it. That’s why during last month’s National Glaucoma Awareness campaign, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the National Eye Institute (NIE) stressed the importance of regularly having your eyes checked. Otherwise, conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma could rob many more people of their eyesight.

Set Your Focus on Your Health

Diabetes can deprive you of many things. Whether it’s your favorite food, your hobbies, or your eyesight, it can diminish your health, well-being, and your overall quality of life. That’s why we can never stress enough the importance of adhering to preventive health measures like diabetic retinal screening. It’s one thing not to be able to eat your favorite food regularly, but to lose your ability to see is another thing altogether.

The pandemic is not an excuse to miss your retinal screening appointment or any other preventive healthcare. With advanced technologies like IDx-DR, we can continue to help you minimize your risk of diabetic retinopathy and other diabetes-related eye problems despite the ongoing pandemic. With so many beautiful things to see and experience, we should all take care of our eyes the best we can.