Report to the People
Saving Sight
In the West of Scotland, if you don’t live with diabetes, the chances are you know someone who does. Indeed, diabetes led last year to the sad death of a good friend and tireless local Labour Party worker.
In the Argyll and Clyde area today, 8,000 people are diagnosed as diabetic. But many more suffer from the condition without knowing it and, with improved detection methods and an ageing population, these numbers are set to rise.
However, sometimes the fact that it is so common can allow us to become a bit blasé. After all, it’s not like cancer or a heart condition, is it? Surely a quick injection or a Mars Bar every now and then isn’t the same as chemotherapy or a triple bypass?
But, as any diabetic will tell you, dismissing this illness in such a trivial way is wrong.
Diabetes can lead to serious complications. It can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and eye disease – which can in some cases lead to blindness.
Tackling the last of these is particularly important. Damage to the blood vessels in the retina caused by diabetes is the largest single cause of blindness amongst working-age people in the UK.
And it may not only cost you your sight. You’ll lose your driving licence, perhaps even your job and income.
With effective screening, however, this eye damage can be spotted and nipped in the bud. Unfortunately, it is currently estimated that only around half of those with diabetes are being screened. Even then, while there are some examples of excellent practice, there is no guarantee that this screening is regular or effective. If we are to stop diabetics going blind, high quality screening must be available to everyone who could benefit.
The NHS, therefore, has announced that it is launching the world’s first national screening programme for diabetic retina damage. This will allow NHS Boards to work together to ensure consistent high standards throughout the country. To make sure everyone who needs to be screened can be and that diabetics who move from one Health Board area to another continue to receive screening, a new £1.5 million software package will help set up and maintain patient records.
Of course, saving sight is only one part of diabetes care and the Scottish Diabetes Framework – a blueprint to improve the overall service diabetics receive – has recently been published by the Scottish Executive. However, by working to remove the fear of blindness from sufferers, we can hopefully make living with diabetes slightly easier.
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