OPTOMETRY & EYEWEAR with Melissa Hay, Visique Milford

I love this time of year!

Our monthly OPTOMETRY & EYEWEAR column is provided by Melissa Hay, the owner of Visique Milford Optometrists. Melissa studied optometry for five years at the Auckland University School of Medicine and completed a Bachelor of Optometry (with Honours). Her qualifications also allow her to test the eyesight of pilots (CCA Accred.) and to write prescriptions (Oc.Cert.Pharm.).

The weather is getting warmer, and the days are longer, which means my husband and I can go for plenty of walks on the beach. Of course it is Christmas time now and anybody who knows me knows how much I love Christmas. This year we are hosting our family Christmas for the first time which is very exciting. I would like to send a big thank you to all the loyal Milford Optometrist customers. We love serving our community with quality eye exams focused on our patient’s eye health and wellbeing. We also have a great range of frames to suit anyone’s tastes and budget with a great team that will help you select the frame that’s best for you. It seems service and quality never goes out of fashion.
From Melissa and the team at Visique Milford Optometrists, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

I have type 2 diabetes and understand that this can effect your eyesight. Are you able to explain and advise what I can do to assist with this side effect?

Question from D.Scott.

Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugars. Type 2 diabetes is where the body fails to use insulin correctly. Initially it maybe managed by altering diet and exercise, but in extreme cases medication is required. Diabetes is a leading cause of preventable blindness in the adult population. One of the most distressing complications of diabetes is reduced vision.

How does diabetes affect my sight?
Diabetes may cause damage to the eye’s light sensitive lining, the retina, and produce changes called Diabetic Retinopathy.
The retina is the delicate layer of blood vessels and light sensitive cells positioned at the back of the eye similar to the film in a camera. The central part of the retina, opposite the pupil, is called the macula. This part is the most sensitive and allows us to see fine detail. The rest of the retina sees the less well defined images but gives us peripheral visual awareness, movement sensation and helps us see at night. If the retina is damaged by diabetic retinopathy, the images formed on the retina are not detected by the light sensitive cells, some of the electrical impulses are not transmitted to the brain and our vision is reduced.
In the retina itself, diabetes causes the walls of the blood vessels to weaken resulting in balloon like bulges called micro aneurysms. Bleeding from these tiny blood vessels, (retinal haemorrhages) or leakage of fats (hard exudates) and fluid (retinal oedema) into the surrounding tissues may occur. If this leakage of fluid into the retinal tissue occurs at the macula (macula oedema), vision will be reduced.
In some cases, the early signs of diabetic retinopathy progress to a more severe form of eye disease called proliferative retinopathy. If untreated, 50% of those affected will suffer serious visual loss. This stage is marked by the growth of very fine delicate new blood vessels (neovascularisation) which bleed very easily. This bleeding causes varying amounts of visual loss and it may take considerable time for the vision to return.
Sometimes the bleeding results in the formation of scar tissue which contracts and pulls away the retina (retinal detachment). This is a serious sight threatening condition and must be treated promptly.
If you have diabetes, it is important that you have an eye examination every two years at a minimum. Newly diagnosed people with Type 2 diabetes should have an examination when first diagnosed. It is important that you do not wait until you notice problems with your eyes before having them examined. Sometimes diabetic changes may be well advanced before this happens and too difficult to treat.
The early signs of diabetic retinopathy are quite common amongst those with diabetes. Often, these changes are minor ( non sight threatening) but require regular monitoring and their presence means special attention should be given to blood glucose control and treatment of other medical conditions such as blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels.
Laser treatment maybe required if the vision is threatened. The laser seals the leaking blood vessels and can be undertaken by an ophthalmologist. As always, early intervention is important to limit any loss of vision.

But you can help hold onto your sight by:
•    Good control of blood glucose levels
•    Treatment of general medical conditions such as high blood pressure and/or abnormal cholesterol levels.
•    Regular eye examinations.
•    Reporting any rapid changes of vision.

Checking with an optometrist or ophthalmologist about the possibility of more frequent eye examinations if you are pregnant as pregnancy poses additional risks.