Using light to save sight
Hospital care for the retina
Diabetes is the main cause of blindness in the working population. Between 2 and 3 percent of the population have diabetes and this percentage will increase in the next ten years, especially among older people. Lack of exercise and obesity increases the risk of diabetes affecting people as they get older. There are nearly a million people in the UK who have diabetes but do not know it.
Diagnosis and treatment
Louise Jarrett is an eye doctor at the hospital. She specialises in diabetic problems of the eye (diabetic retinopathy). She looks at the back of the eyes (the retina) of patients in the diabetic clinic and also see patients sent by optometrists who screen for diabetic retinopathy in the community. The picture on the left shows the back of an eye affected by diabetic retinopathy.
The aim is to spot those patients who need laser treatment or special photographs to show where the blood vessels are leaking (angiograms). Laser treatment may be necessary to stop blood escaping. The picture on the right shows a retina after laser treatment.
Submitted by: Louise Jarrett, 24 January 2007
