National Diabetes Week runs from 14–21 July this year. To mark this important annual awareness campaign, we turned to members of the eye health community to contribute stories that provide an insight into both the impact of this disease on quality of life and the impact that health care and technology can have on its management.
I thank optometrist Amira Howari, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of eight, for sharing her personal story about how this disease influenced her experience as a young girl, forcing her to grow up fast. Living with diabetes also meant her entire family had to make changes to accommodate her needs. Amira also describes the massive impact that technology – specifically optical coherence tomography – has had on both the management of her own eye disease and that of her patients.
In a fascinating CPD accredited article written by ophthalmologists Drs Dov Hersh and Brighu Swamy, aptly titled ‘Don’t Forget the Baby’, we learn about the incredibly delicate task of advising patients with diabetes who are pregnant, or wanting to conceive, and then managing their ocular pathology.
We also have an insightful Q&A with optometrist Jacinta Lok and members of Diabetes Australia, who talk about starting conversations with patients who have diabetes, educating them on their eye health needs, and the barriers to these patients seeking the care they need.
Finally, Diabetes Australia, Vision 2020, and their partners have made huge inroads with the KeepSight program, which reminds patients living with diabetes to maintain regular eye checks. Already over 450,000 people with diabetes have registered to the program however that is not enough. With a stated goal to “reach the 600,000+ people with diabetes who aren’t having regular eye checks”, Diabetes Australia is directly appealing to ophthalmologists to register patients to the program. You can find out all about it on page 78.
I hope these stories will provide practical insights for you to take on board when consulting your patients living with diabetes. And I hope you will be encouraged to register your patients with KeepSight so that they receive regular reminders to return to you for their much-needed eye health checks.
Enjoy this issue.
