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January 9, 20199:13 am

Happy New Year! January is eye health month.

Regular annual eye exams are essential for early detection of eye disorders. Glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy are a few of the eye disorders that can cause loss of vision. Having annual eye exams with your eye doctor can help to detect these at an early stage and help prevent/slow permanent vision damage.

Diabetes puts your eyes at risk for damage that can cause loss of vision and even blindness. Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes where the blood vessels in the eye are damages. It is very common with more than 3 million cases a year. There is no known cure, but treatments are available. Diabetic retinopathy can last years or be lifelong.

What is the major cause of diabetic retinopathy? Poorly controlled diabetes.

Other risk factors are: Duration of diabetes (the longer you have it, the higher the risk), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, pregnancy, and tobacco use.

Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy include: Eye floaters, blurriness, black spots in the area of vision, difficulty seeing colors, blindness, and loss of central vision.

Diagnosis requires eye imaging. Routine eye exams with dilation can see early signs of many eye disorders. Muscogee Creek Nation Department of Health now has eye imaging WITHOUT dilation for diabetic retinopathy available at some diabetes clinics. See the next page for more information.

What can you do to protect your vision? Get a dilated eye exam at least once a year and keep TRACK of your diabetes:

T: Take your medication as prescribed by your doctor.

R: Reach and maintain a healthy weight.

A: Add more physical activity to your daily routine.

C: Control your ABCs- A1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

K: Kick the smoking habit.

 

The New Year is a great time to take control of your health and start something new! May 2019 bring you good health and many blessings!

 

Reference: IHS/JVN Teleophthalmology program page 3. https://www.bing.com/search?q=diabetic+retinopathy&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IENTSR

NEW OPTOMAP Dilation-Free Eye Exam

 

Are you a Diabetic who has a primary care doctor at the Muscogee Creek Nation Department of Health?

If you said yes to those questions you should look at scheduling a scan with our new OPTOMAPS scanner.

 

The Optomap is a low-powered scanning laser ophthalmoscope that digitally scans the retina. The test is non-invasive, no dilation required and takes only 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Different wavelengths of laser light are used to capture the image. The image can then be filtered, allowing various layers of the retina to be evaluated and checked for abnormalities. The image can be viewed by an eye care professional quickly and saved in your medical record to compare the condition of your retinas from year to year. This is not a substitute for — a traditional eye exam with dilation, but helps in finding issues that may not have been found before you go into for your routine eye exams.

Your results will be mailed to you with the following information: your risk factor of low, medium, or high, the imaging results, and the treatment plan guidance telling you when to follow up next.

 

Contact any of the locations below to schedule the JVN/Optomap scan!

Sapulpa Indian Clinic: Nancy Miller Diabetes Clerk 918-224-9310 ext: 2242

Okmulgee Indian Clinic: Cheryl Aguilar Diabetes Clerk 918-756-2240 ext: 4402

Koweta Indian Clinic: Lezlie Glass, Diabetes Clerk 918-279-3420

 

Everyone should get their eyes checked!!

To Schedule a routine eye exam please call the Optometry:

Sapulpa Indian Clinic: 918-224-9310 (ext: 2259)

Koweta Indian Health Clinic: 918-279-3431

Okemah Indian Health Clinic: 918-623-1424 (option 2 for clinic then option * )

Eufaula Indian Health Center: 918-490-7027