DEAR ABBY: I’m an ophthalmologist, a physician who specializes in medical and surgical eye care, and I’m hoping you can help me debunk a common myth about eye health. Many assume eye disease happens only to older adults. While age does increase the risk of developing certain vision-threatening diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts, younger people can also develop vision-threatening eye conditions.
This is particularly true for the nearly 40 million Americans living with diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy, a complication that damages blood vessels in the retina, is now the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults in the USA. The solution is surprisingly simple — a medical eye exam — but most people aren’t getting one.
Abby, regular eye exams and timely interventions can reduce the risk of severe vision loss by more than 90%. However, only about 60% of people with diabetes receive the annual dilated eye examinations recommended by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Ophthalmologists have more tools than ever for diagnosing and treating eye diseases.
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