How Does an Optician Tell?

[Dolly]

How does an optician tell if you have diabetes?

Are a lot of cases initially diagnosed this way?

[Bettina]

You're confusing opticians [who fit eyeglasses] with ophthamologists, medical doctors who specialize in diseases of the eye.

[Dolly]

Not in the UK I'm not.

You book to go to the optician to have your eyes tested. It's a generic term over here.

Do you know how they tell if you have problems?

[jimmys devoted]

Opticians, dispensing, opthamologists and any eye care profession all ha some basic tools. Tey use a small opthascope to look into the eyes.
Diabetes and diabetic conditions create small amounts of blood to seep into the aqueous humor.
When an optician or opthamologist looks into the eye they can tell howuch damamge there is on the blood vessels and how much discoloration there is in the fluid
Diabetes also changes the sclera or membrane covering of the eyeas well.

Small nuances and reaction time to lens change can also be indication of diabetes.

Slit light is a high intensity light that either doctor now uses to show more of teh blood vessels, retina and back of teh eye.
Thsi si actuallya good way to determine if known diabetics are in good control or just " lying" about their control.

Also looking into the eye can tell if mini strokes have occurred.



julie

[Bettina]

I still think you're confusing opticians with optometrists. At least in the US, opticians fit glasses. They don't do exams.

[rattitude]

It must vary. My optician can do these kinds of exams as well as vision testing.

[Dolly]

Thanks for that explanation, JD, very interesting and detailed!

I don't know where you are Bettina, but it sounds as if you just take a prescription into an opticians that is basically a sales centre.

Here in the UK, most have an optician on board that will examine your eyes and dispense the prescription there and then.

It's really irrelevant because it's purely semantics.

[jimmys devoted]

Here too.

In order to get a pair of glassess any Optician or opthamologist has got to give an exam of some sort.

Now if you go to say Lenscrafter, Dr. Bizers, Pearl, Sears etc. You can take your already done or old prescription in, which had to be done by a licened optician or opthamologist to begin with and you don't need to get a new one done to have a pair of glasses made or duplicated.

Now I go to Dr. Bizers with my daughter. They are all OPTICIANS. Board certifed and licensed and they do all of the tests. Glaucoma, periphriel, slit light, opthascope etc.
Even my MD does a basic opthascope screening. And thats when she tells me if I am in great control, good control or " can we talk".. hehehe

So where she goes I have no idea.

julie

[Fizz]

Now I am just getting confused. Do ALL diabetics end up having vision problems or just some of them. Is there a percentage that do and don't? Really need info so I can help my Mother.