“Your Healthcare. Your Choice.”

by Shain Waugh

According to the California health care Foundation, there is a new project designed to prevent diabetes-related blindness with the goal of serving 100 clinic and 100,000 patients.

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With Type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood.

Diabetes is a major health threat in the Central Valley,” according to Veenu Aulakh, M.P.H., CHCF senior program officer. “In addition to some of the highest rates of diabetes in the state, the problem is compounded by high numbers of poor and uninsured patients, a shortage of health providers, and a rural setting that poses transportation obstacles to getting care.”

Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. It can cause a number of eye problems, some of which can lead to blindness if not addressed. They include Glaucoma, Cataracts, Diabetic retinopathy. Studies show that regular eye exams and timely treatment of diabetes-related eye problems could prevent up to 90% of diabetes-related blindness.Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems. It can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease, stroke and even the need to remove a limb. Pregnant women can also get diabetes, called gestational diabetes.

Diabetic retinopathy, which includes hemorrhages and lesions in the eye, is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults, with 24,000 diabetics becoming legally blind each year in the United States. But with regular screening to identify those most at risk, blindness can often be prevented. “Half of all patients with diabetes don’t get recommended yearly eye exams,” said Jorge Cuadros, O.D., Ph.D., clinical professor of optometry at UC Berkeley. “The statistic is even worse in poor and rural communities.”

EyePACS

EyePACS, a license-free Web-based software program for capturing and delivering retinal images. The project provides special digital retinal cameras to be used during regular primary care visits at the clinics. The high-resolution retinal photos are transmitted to optometrists and ophthalmologists at UC Berkeley for interpretation, diagnosis, and possible referral to specialists for further treatment.

Clinics are using the retinal images as powerful tools to engage patients in diabetes self-management. “We show patients their own photo, compared with a photo of a healthy eye,” said Noguera. “Diabetes is largely invisible, but this is something tangible that they can see.” CHCF is funding a $1.8 million expansion of this project and recently selected a group of California safety-net and rural clinics as participants in the first wave of expansion.