Eye health and diabetes: a guide to diabetic retinopathy

Specsavers Optometrist, Jerry Mathias, wants you to know that there’s often no symptoms for diabetic retinopathy at first, but it can change.

“The most common symptoms are blurred vision, dark or empty areas in your vision and fluctuating vision,” says Mathias.

One in three Australians with diabetes have diabetic retinopathy, also known as diabetic eye disease.
 

“Diabetic retinopathy is a diabetes-related eye condition where high blood sugar levels can cause damage to the retina…,” says Mathias.

The retina has an important job: it senses light and sends the information to your brain to process into vision.

How does the retina take damage?

“Too much sugar in the blood over time damages the tiny blood vessels in the retina and makes these vessels leaky,” says Mathias.

“These leaky blood vessels can then cause changes to your vision."

“Diabetic retinopathy is caused by high blood sugar levels over time due to people with both type one and type two diabetes managing glucose levels outside the target range.”

Mathias advises that an optometrist can detect diabetic retinopathy when they examine the condition of the retina at the back of the eye.

“As a part of your eye test we look at the retina and check for any leaky blood vessels or swelling,” says Mathias.

“This involves the optometrist using the slit lamp and at Specsavers, we also use an OCT (optical coherence tomography) machine to capture a series of 3D scans of the back of the eye. We do this additional step for free for every patient as a part of their routine eye test, and it’s especially helpful for people with diabetes because we can use the scans to track and measure minor changes to the eye over time.” 
 

A regular eye test is the best way to detect any signs of diabetic retinopathy.

“Annual check-ups are recommended for someone who has diabetes,” says Mathias. 

“As there are different severities of diabetic retinopathy, the optometrist or ophthalmologist will inform you if you require more frequent check-ups.”

Need a reminder? KeepSight is a free national diabetes eye check reminder program that helps you remember your next appointment.
 

“At Specsavers, the optometrist can register you with KeepSight for free and when you’re due for your next eye check, you will receive a reminder from the program via email, post or SMS,” says Mathias.

“…to date, we’re proud to have registered more than 600,000 people with diabetes to the program and flagged more than 1 million eye test appointments.”

There are a lot of ways to monitor eye heath, but Mathias recommends several ways to lower your risk of diabetic retinopathy.

“Maintaining good blood sugar control will minimise the risk,” says Mathias.

“This means following a healthy diet, taking diabetes medication as prescribed and engaging in physical activity.” 

There are many more ways to prioritise your eye health, such as regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight.

“Other health conditions like high blood pressure and cholesterol can affect the eyes too,” says Mathias.

“UV protection in the form of hats and sunglasses is highly recommended."

“Regular eye checks (as often as recommended by the optometrist or sooner if you notice any changes to your eyes or vision) are recommended as problems can be caught early before symptoms start.”

Book an eye test today at a Members' Choice Advantage optical provider Specsavers.