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Diabetic patients require regular visits!Created:January 8, 2006Overweight people, especially those with diabetes, need to take a better look at their own eyes. That's the advice of doctors sounding the alarm about diabetic retinopathy, a silent but serious condition that blinds many among the 18 million Americans who live with diabetes."Diabetes damage has no pain or redness in the eyes, and so the patient can believe they're OK until the day they go blind," said ophthalmologist Mark Sibley, medical director at the Florida Eye Center in St. Petersburg. "Diabetes is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness, but no eye doctor can save a person's vision unless they get in for an exam." Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. Obesity and lack of exercise can contribute to the condition. About one-third of people with diabetes don't even know they have it, according to the American Diabetes Association. The eyes mirror the disease's dangers. Diabetes restricts blood vessels, reducing the flow of oxygen and nutrients. Unlike other organs, however, the eyes are able to grow new vessels. But this network of veins can backfire, said Stephen Schwartz, assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Retina Center in Naples, Fla. "The eyes try to grow new blood vessels to get around the blocked ones. But they proliferate and grow all over the place. Then they can break and bleed, and the eye fills with blood." In the U.S., diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in people 20 to 65. Experts say people with the disease need to be more aware of the complications and schedule an eye exam, particularly with a retinal specialist. The longer a diabetic goes without visiting an eye doctor -- or seeking laser treatment and drops to repair damage -- the greater the chance of vision loss |