Free diabetics a background exam (Argentina)

The 17th National Campaign for the Prevention of Blindness for Diabetes is organized by the Argentine Council of Ophthalmology, and is replicated in different venues throughout the country during Friday 4, in order to detect a pathology that can cause blindness in diabetic patients.

It is reported that it will be attended by order of arrival.The action consists in the realization of an eye fund;A fast and painless examination that serves to quickly detect the presence of diabetic retinopathy.After a few minutes the patient is communicated if the pathology is developing or not.If the presence of diabetic retinopathy is checked, other studies can be carried out to determine if the case requires treatment.Information on diabetes and blindness will also be provided.

National Campaign

For 17 years, during the agreed day hundreds of ophthalmologists attend diabetic patients for free to detect or rule out the presence of diabetic retinopathy, a harmful disease for visual health that can be cause for blindness.

It is caused by the deterioration of the arteries and veins that irrigate the retina, a layer of nerves that covers the eye inside and whose function is to perceive the light and images that will reach the brain.Damage to blood vessels may decrease vision or distort the images.It usually has no symptoms and the risks of developing it increase with the progress of the disease and with bad blood glucose control.

Diabetes: Second cause of blindness

Diabetes is the second cause of blindness in industrialized countries and the main one in people aged 25 to 74.In Argentina there are about 1,500,000 diabetics (approximately 5% of the population), half of them do not know they are, and almost all will develop some degree of retinopathy throughout their lives.

Since 2001, more than 12,000 diabetic patients have been treated for free, and 40% of them had lesions compatible with diabetic retinopathy and 9% showed advanced forms of the disease, which were derived for their corresponding treatment.It was also found that 1% of patients had blindness for diabetes.

In this sense, they point out that it is necessary to inform the diabetic population about the need to perform ophthalmological controls with an eye exam at least 1 time per year, since the early detection of the ocular disease allows to begin a treatment in time.