Diabetes (type 1 and 2) causes a host of health problems, including diabetic retinopathy, which leads to vision loss. In fact, diabetes is a leading cause of blindness in working-age adults. While type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease diagnosed in childhood, type 2 – sometimes called “adult-onset” diabetes – emerges later in life and is often a result of physical inactivity and obesity. Diabetes is now a global epidemic, and while the rates are highest among the elderly, prevalence rates continue to rise among the younger and productive sections of the population in developing countries.
Asia alone has 60% of diabetics in the world.1 Currently, Malaysia has the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in Southeast Asia, with more than 3.5 million people suffering from the disease – ranking them among the highest in the world. In 2015, the Malaysian Health Ministry estimated that 1 out of 6 persons (17.5%) aged 18 years and above has diabetes.2 Given that more than 45% of Malaysians are obese or overweight, the rapid rise of diabetes is not surprising. According to a study published in The Lancet, 44% of men and 49% of women in Malaysia were found to be obese or overweight.3
To reduce the risk of complications, or to prevent them from worsening, diabetics must carefully manage and monitor their symptoms. Failure to screen for diabetic retinopathy is the major cause of vision loss in diabetic patients – vision loss that could have been prevented with timely intervention, as the most effective time to treat diabetic retinopathy is when the patient is still asymptomatic.
Because conditions like diabetic retinopathy can be devastating to quality of life, it’s imperative that every diabetic has a retinal examination. This examination is generally carried out by an ophthalmologist or by a primary care physician using direct ophthalmoscopy.
To help primary physicians screen patients for diabetic retinopathy more confidently, the Malaysian Society of Ophthalmology (MSO), offers Eye Photo4 – a non-profit initiative that makes community-based retinal photography more effective and efficient. MSO is a professional organization that represents medical doctors specializing in the field of ophthalmology in Malaysia.
Using Eye Photo, MSO’s non-medical staff members take high-resolution retinal photographs for patients, which are then used by primary physicians to look for any signs of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy. With Eye Photo, MSO hopes to prevent vision loss in the diabetic community that remains under-screened due to lack of awareness, lack of access to other means of screening, or both. (This service is not meant to replace any medical eye care that patients may already be receiving.)
To use this service, patients with a referral note from a primary physician can walk-in during clinic hours at: Klinik Kesihatan Jeram, 45800 Jeram, Selangor, Malaysia. The Eye Photo staff can be reached at: +603-32640720, and the clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Monday to Friday).
References:
- Hu FB. Globalization of diabetes: The role of diet, lifestyle, and genes. Diabetes Care. 2011;34(6):1249-1257.
- Tee ES, Yap RWK. Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Malaysia: current trends and risk factors. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017;71(7):844-849.
- NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD- RisC). Trends in adult body-mass index in 200 countries from 1975 to 2014: a pooled analysis of 1698 population-based measurement studies with 9·2 million participants. Lancet. 2016;387(10026):1377-1396.
- MSO Website. Eye Photo Project. Available at: http://mso.org.my/index.cfm?&menuid=6. Accessed on September 21, 2017.
