Have diabetes? Eye exam every year!

By David Khorram M.D.
Special to the Saipan Tribune

Are you one of the CNMI’s 3,000 people with diabetes? Did you have an eye exam last year? Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the CNMI, and an eye exam is the first step toward preventing visual loss. People with diabetes are required to have an eye exam at least once a year. Yet statistics from Marianas Eye Institute and the Division of Public Health show that at best, only 400 people with diabetes get an eye exam in any given year. Are you or a family member in the 90 percent who did not get an eye exam last year? If so, let’s talk about what can help you.

It is possible that you do not know that you are required to have an eye exam every year. A survey we conducted last year showed that less than half of all diabetics know that they need an eye exam every year as the first step toward preventing blindness. One of the major efforts of the Division of Public Health is to make sure everyone with diabetes knows this simple fact. If you have diabetes, you need an eye exam at least once a year.

What I find is that many people with diabetes, even those who know that they need an eye exam every year, have many reasons why they don’t get one. Something keeps you back. Perhaps you are afraid of finding out that diabetes may have affected your eyes. Maybe it is inconvenient for you to go to the eye doctor. Maybe you worry about the cost. In any event, you may have a list of reasons why you don’t go in for your eye exam. These reasons are valid concerns. However, if these concerns end up leading to blindness, that’s a problem.

I spend much of my time helping people shift their focus away from why they don’t want to go in for an eye exam, to why they want to keep their vision. After all, it is easier to stay home and watch TV than to get up and make the trip to the eye doctor. But the real question is, “What pleasure do you get from seeing?” Maybe seeing the faces of your loved ones. Or having the independence to drive or cook or to move around your own house. What pain would you experience if you could not see? What would it be like to not be able to drive, or to read, or to see the food on your plate, or to watch the faces of your children or grandchildren as they grow? Keep your focus on these things. Anytime you start to become afraid or think of the hassles or all of those other reasons why you don’t want to go in for an eye exam, shift your focus to why you want to see and why you want to keep your vision. Shifting your focus is the key to doing the things you need to do. Keep the goal of keeping your vision in the forefront of your mind. As they say in sports, “keep your eye on the ball.” It’s easy to get distracted by everything else on the playing field and in the stands.

Every day, someone with diabetes walks into my office and tells me their vision has suddenly gone bad. This is not a situation you want to get yourself into. When diabetes has caused enough damage that the vision has gone bad, everything is much harder to treat. The reason that an eye exam every year is so important for diabetics is that if we catch the eye problems before the vision gets bad, we can treat them much more successfully. If you already have some damage to your eyes, then the doctor will want to monitor your eyes more often than just once a year.

Now you know that diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the CNMI. You know that if you have diabetes, you need an eye exam at least once a year. You may have plenty of reasons why you don’t want to get an eye exam. Don’t focus on these reasons. Instead, focus on why you want to keep your vision. What pleasure do you get from your vision, and what pain would you experience if you could not see? Think deeply about these things. Now you know that if you wait until your vision goes bad, the doctor can help, but it is much harder. And also, you know that early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic eye disease gives you a better chance of keeping your vision. Now, with all of this knowledge, it is time to take action. If you have been putting off getting an eye exam, put down the paper, call an eye doctor. If you don’t have diabetes, take this action for a family member or friend who does. Take the first step towards making sure you can enjoy the beauty and freedom that good vision brings.

(David Khorram, MD is a board certified ophthalmologist, director of Marianas Eye Institute and columnist for the Saipan Tribune. Questions and comments are welcome. Email davidkhorram@hotmail.com. Copyright © 2005 David Khorram.)