HHS HealthBeat (August 13, 2008)

Twenty-twenty vision, for now

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Diabetes is the most common cause of blindness among working-age people. Diabetic retinopathy – which damages small blood vessels in the back of the eye – causes up to 24,000 new cases of blindness each year. And it’s preventable.

But people can’t tell by themselves if they have an early case.

Dr. Susan Primo of Emory University is a member of the National Diabetes Education Program, a partnership of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

"There are often no symptoms to having diabetic retinopathy. A person could conceivably have 20/20 vision – or almost near-perfect vision – yet still have ravaging effects of diabetic eye disease." (10 seconds)

It takes a dilated eye exam by an eye specialist to spot diabetic retinopathy early. It’s also important that diabetes is well controlled.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August, 13 2008