Diabetes isn’t just a disease that affects your blood sugar levels. It can profoundly affect your eyes, as well as other parts of your body. The risk of glaucoma and cataracts is higher in people with diabetes, but the primary diabetic concern for vision is retinopathy. Long-term diabetics and diabetics with uncontrolled blood sugars are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy causes damage to the blood vessels in the retina, possibly leading to a partial loss of vision or total blindness. Regular eye exams for diabetic patients is critical, as their vision will become blurry and begin to disappear as untreated diabetic retinopathy progresses.

Early detection and treatment are the best prevention of diabetic-related eye problems. Diabetic eye examinations include pupil dilation or optomap scanning to allow the doctor to see inside the eye and evaluate the health of the retina, nerve, and blood vessels.

All diabetic and borderline diabetics should be examined once a year focusing primarily on the retina. A basic glasses check is not sufficient. We recommend our Optomap technology to scan the entire back of the eye. This gives us a high-definition wide angle view of all the structures inside the eye. This also spares the patient from dilation and its aftereffects.

Dr. Albright has been a type 1 diabetic for over thirty years and fully understands the complexity, difficulty, and challenge of living with diabetes. He takes special attention with his diabetic patients in evaluating them and communicating with them. Not all doctors know what it is like to live with the disease and can’t appreciate how hard it can be. If you want someone that walks the walk, then Dr. Albright is ready to care for your eyes.