If the #diabetes is aged too long it surely affects other body parts and one of those could be eyes. As you all know, diabetes affects the walls of blood veins and weakens the veins carrying oxygen to the Retina (where image is formed). If a diabetic patient is not having a controlled limit of sugar then he / she can get affected with Diabetic Retinopathy and the most worst part is that it is diagnosed only after it turns dangerous therefore Eye Check-up is must for diabetes patients.
Eye Check-up is must for diabetes patients – Dr. Quresh B. Maskati
An interview with Dr. Quresh B. Maskati on the occasion of AIOC Seminar 2014, Dr. Maskati share his view with us and recommended that eye check-up is must for diabetes patients.
AIOC Seminar 2014 was held in Agra. What will the effective steps taken through organization towards Public Health.
We are having around 15 thousand members in our organization. In AIOC 2014 it is mainly focused on the protection and research for the diabetes patients eyes. Till now all the things were done through correspondence. Now organization is preparing to stop totally the use of paper work, we are having about 11 thousand emails till date, now emails will be forwarded to all members to reduce carbon emissions.
What is the relation between diabetes and eyes? How it effect eyes.
India is becoming a big hub for the diabetes present. Since the income is increasing people are attracted towards luxurious life and prefer to outside for food, habit of working in computer sitting at one place is increasing, people have left walking and all these are giving to large number of diabetic patients. These patients are not aware that diabetes can snatch their eyesight. Our organization is trying to spread this message among the people, and this work can be done through two ways, first is through government and other is through efforts of private doctors.
Government is big machinery system, PHC and CHC is present at all places. We are trying to speak to government that all the diabetic patients arriving in government hospitals should be referred to eye doctors for eye checkup, in this way eye checkup for every patient can be done.
Generally Physician advices diabetic patients to keep blood sugar level under control. Due to lack of time doctors are not able to explain all information in detail. We are trying to make sure that every private doctor should advice diabetic patients to go for eye checkup.
Blood nerves are mostly affected during diabetes and sometimes blood flows out of nerves. And patient thinks that he is suffering from cataract and that’s why he is loosing his vision slowly slowly. Most of the patients becomes blind all of a sudden.
In such condition the patient can be treated with the help of vein laser technique. We will even urge the corporate institutions to take up the issue seriously and to propagate towards this noble cause.
How is the organization working on this issue?
Camps will be held on every state capital of the country on November 2014 which will be week long event and support will be taken from the NGO and corporate institutions. The whole week will be there for the eye test of diabetic patient. We will be ensure that the patient get free of cost medicine (eye drop) and suggestions will be given to patients about how to keep their eyes in better and good health.
This camps will be taken up in around 35 or 40 or even more cities of the country and the main object of these camps is publicity so that message could be spread about how to keep the eyes healthy for diabetic patients through the help of media or other methods. After the camps the patient can get free of cost eye test from the government hospitals. We are trying to join hands with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for such camps.
Research has come to stop still, what are the steps you are going to initiate?
We agree that there has been slow down in the process of research in the recent times, and now we are providing financial support to the young scholars to carry out the research activities. Even the young scholars are given help for foreign trips so that it can help them in their research activities. There is a separate committee in our organization for the research. Now even the government has come alive and has made important that thesis should be published for promotion, all these resulting in speeding up the research activities.
What are the efforts of the organizations towards Research ?
The Headquarters of AIOS is underconstruction and will be completed within a period of three months time. After that all the journals will be published from here only and teaching programmes will also be started through internet as key mode connecting 140 medical college of the country. With the help of web link classes in all the medical colleges will be held connecting New Delhi. Discussions will take place for new research and methodologies. It is necessary because better training is available in the institutions like AIIMS but is not possible in any place like Jumri Taliaya.
What is the percent diabetic patients getting blind?
If the diabetic patient is suffering from diabetes for more than 15 years then surely 80 percent of such patients can turn blind. If the eyes are tested every year then the chances of blindness is zero. This is the very reason that the diabetic patients should get their tested regularly.
Cataract is another major problem in the country, what steps are taken by the organization to curb this?
This is the first time that the backlog of the cataract patients has reduced in recent times and this only due to the efforts of the eye specialists of the organization and private doctors. This year it has been found that more cataract operations were conducted than the number of new born cases.
Every year one million operations take place and from past five years 10 million people were in queue for the cataract operation. Now only 5 million patients are left.
The speed at which the operations are taking place, its for sure that in the next five years the backlog of the cataract patients which be nil. There is no way that cataract could be stopped but the only way is to operate and stop the infection. But for the diabetic patients there only way is to regular test the eyes and to keep away blindness. If we are able to prevent this, then surely we will win the fight.
