Diabetes affects about one in ten Singaporeans and Asians. 20% of people with diabetes may develop diabetic retinal disease (retinopathy) which is the major cause of blindness in working adults in many countries, including Singapore. In addition, cataract and glaucoma are more common in diabetics than non-diabetics. Early detection through regular screening is key to preventing blindness and preserving good vision in diabetes sufferers.
All diabetics require annual eye screening once they are diagnosed with the disease. In the early stages, there may no symptoms at all, hence it is important to have your eyes checked every year even if your vision has not been affected. Any delay in diagnosis and appropriate timely intervention and treatment can lead to serious sight threatening complications before it is even recognized.
Diabetic complications usually increase with the duration of the disease and its severity. After 20 years of having diabetes, up to 40 per cent of all diabetics will show some degree of diabetic eye changes in the retina, which can be sight threatening in 20 per cent. Hence diabetic patients usually require a long term follow-up with the eye specialists.
Diabetic eye screening involves the checking of vision and eye pressures (tonometry), examination for cataract, pupil dilatation, retinal photography and optic nerve assessment (to exclude glaucoma). These images will be stored in our database for easy reference and comparison while a printed copy is given to the patients for record purposes.
Should you have any queries or wish to contact us for an eye examination, please call us to schedule an appointment for diabetic eye screening.
