Diabetes and Eye
India is a world capital of diabetes where an estimated 77 million people are currently suffering from the disease which is around 17.5% of the population. As diabetes is a disease of small blood vessels it affects each and every part of the body, with eye not being an exception.
However examination of the eyes gives a typical benefit to all the doctors treating diabetes. The back side of the eye or the retina is the only place in the body where actual blood vessels are visible in a live person. A detailed examination of the retina, therefore, gives insight into how much the diabetes is damaging to the rest of the body.
A diabetic person can roughly estimate his control over diabetes by a simple vision test at home. He/she can sit at a distance from a calendar or a sheet having printed text from where the text is just readable. He/she can then on any morning sit at the same distance and check if that text is properly visible. Blurring of vision can mean increase/decrease in blood sugar which can be explored further by doing proper test. However the home test is a very basic test.
The most effective prevention of diabetes related eye diseases is good control of blood sugar and adequate exercise. Glycosylated hemoglobin, Hb1Ac, three-month blood glucose average of 6.5 is almost ideal and at this level hardly any damage occurs to the eyes. Daily exercise of a minimum of 45 minutes is mandatory for diabetic patients. During COVID-19 times, when there are restrictions on going out of the house, and walking continuously at home is not easy, a person can walk for five minutes every one hour at home. This way the daily quota of his/her exercise will be completed. It is important to remember that this aforementioned exercise is in addition to the daily chores. A person who walks for two hours in a day but is lying down without any activity for the rest 22 hours cannot expect his diabetes to be under control, ofcourse this is an exaggerated example.
At Wavikar Eye Institute (WEI), all the diagnostic equipment and treatment modalities are available. Keeping in mind the patient centric approach, WEI recently installed an OCT angiography machine from ZEISS (angioflex). This machine considered as gold standard, is first of its kind in entire Thane district. While doing additional angiography, the patient has to undergo blood test, injection of a dye and hospital has to be ready for any reaction a patient can get through the dye. In OCT angiography, dye injection is not necessary. Therefore, patient does neither have to undergo blood test nor he/she receives an injection, thus ruling out the possibility of any allergic reaction, in addition to saving of time. Therefore it is a very patient friendly development.
WEI also has other equipments like green laser, sutureless vitrectomy machine and any such machines required for diagnosis and treatment of diabetic eye diseases.
Mucormycosis (Black Fungus)
• Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) is an age-old disease
• Incidence after COVID-19 is only 1%
• If diagnosed in time, it can be curable
• Important to keep diabetes in control
• Consult your eye/ENT doctor immediately if you develop symptoms such as eye pain, squinting, double vision, decrease in vision, sinusitis like symptoms, toothaches, and redness of eyes
• Remember, such symptoms does not always mean that it is black fungus
• Early diagnosis is the key to success