November is Diabetic Eye Disease Month when the focus this year is on diabetic retinopathy, “a condition involving chronic high blood sugar that damages the retina’s blood vessels,” according to the National Eye Institute. The International Diabetes Foundation reports that, “Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of vision loss in working-age adults (20-65 years). Approximately one in three people with diabetes have diabetic retinopathy and one in ten will develop a vision threatening form of the disease.”
The American Academy of Ophthalmology suggests the following five steps to prevent diabetic eye diseases:
- Get a comprehensive dilated eye examination from your ophthalmologist at least once a year.
- Control your blood sugar.
- Maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
- Stop smoking.
- Exercise.
For ophthalmology referrals and to schedule an annual physical at any of our convenient Primary Medical Care Center community clinics, you may visit our website at www.primarymed.com, or call (305)751-1500 for our Miami-Dade clinic, or (954)289-0000 for our Broward clinic.
Source: https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/top-five-diabetes-steps
https://idf.org/our-activities/care-prevention/eye-health.html
https://nationaltoday.com/diabetic-eye-disease-month/