A Visual Diabetes Diagnosis: When it comes to diabetes it may be possible that the eyes have it. There has always been support for the idea that eyes may be an indicator of the body’s ability to manage blood glucose prior to a diabetes diagnosis and become an important tool in eye management once diabetes is diagnosed. However, some more recent research suggests that it may be possible for your eye care professional to monitor and correctly diagnose the existence of the disease.
Researchers at the Kellogg Eye center at the University of Michigan have developed a new device that, “Captures images of the eye to detect metabolic stress and tissue damage that occur before the first symptoms of disease are evident.”
This device has been considered a positive and non-invasive way to check for diabetes in patients as part of a normal optical screening. Results are available in less than five minutes.
The UMHS report indicates, “Metabolic stress, and therefore disease, can be detected by measuring the intensity of cellular fluorescence in retinal tissue.”
With the onset of diabetes cell structures can die due to uncontrolled blood glucose. Those conditions can be monitored by this eye test and may alert your eye care professional to provide instruction on further steps you can take to monitor your condition.
Retinal changes in general can provide clues to the existence of diabetes, but it can also help diagnose other issues. An article by the Boston Health New Examiner indicates that Dr. Tien Wong of the University of Singapore has confirmed, “Early retinopathy signs are also associated with metabolic and vascular risk factors, and are strong markers of subclinical and clinical CVD events such as stroke, coronary heart disease and heart failure.”
Wong further states, “With the advent of sophisticated computer and imaging techniques, doctors can now measure with precision the arteriolar and venular diameters of retinal blood vessels to gain new understanding of early retinal vascular changes. Studying early retinopathy and retinal vascular changes may offer new insights into the vascular basis of diabetes, new avenues for prevention and treatment.”
Many scientists have been working diligently to find improved screening methods that remove the fears generally associated with diabetes blood tests. If they can match a peripheral method that is non invasive (such as a routine eye test) then it might not be as difficult to identify and treat the millions of undiagnosed cases around the world.
The University of Michigan report indicates, “Some 24 million Americans have diabetes and an additional 57 million individuals have abnormal blood sugar levels that qualify as pre-diabetes, according to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, 4.1 million people over the age of 40 suffer from diabetic retinopathy, an eye-related complication of diabetes that is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults.”
There may remain some debate over the exact method and acceptable parameters for diabetes detection. No matter the reservations some may have about the actual testing procedure there seems to be broad acceptance that this idea not only has merit, but also may be the common diagnostic testing procedure for diabetes in the future.
Like dental health the health of the eye can help doctors spot symptoms that can help answer other health questions. The result of this holistic approach can help multiple health practitioners work together to diagnose and treat illnesses before they become unmanageable.
