Muscat: The risk of developing visual disabilities due to diabetic retinopathy is on the rise in Oman, according to Dr Rajiv Khandekar, Consultant Ophthalmologists with the Department of Non Communicable Disease Surveillance & Control Ministry of Health.
"At least 15 per cent (279,000) of the country's projected population (3.25 million in 2010) have diabetic retinopathy," Dr Khandekar told Gulf News.
The senior consultant with the Ministry of Health pointed out that 50 per cent of the country's population was above the age of 20 and 17 per cent (279, 000) inhabitants in the country suffer from diabetes.
Dr Khandekar, who has been involved with ophthalmology branch in Oman for nearly 25 years, said that his research had shown that at least 27,000 of those suffering from diabetic retinopathy in the country were in Sight Threatening stage of Diabetic Retinopathy (STDR).
"They will need laser treatment in one or both eyes," he stressed, adding that better renal dialysis and intensive care units in Oman had increased life span of those suffering from diabetes.
The flip side, he added, was that those living longer with the condition of diabetes run the risk of developing visual disabilities.
"Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a dreadful blinding eye complication that needs attention," he stressed.
Explaining the downside of diabetes, Dr Khandekar said that a person with diabetes develops diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, early cataract, frequent eye infections, optic neuritis, muscle paralysis and other minor conditions.
He said that every type I diabetic patient (those who need insulin to control diabetes since early age) will develop diabetic retinopathy 20 years after diabetes is diagnosed.
Dr Khandekar also stressed that 75 per cent type II diabetic patients (those who have diabetes in adulthood and initially need diet control or medicines) will develop diabetic retinopathy 20 years after suffering from diabetes.
Besides controlling blood sugar, diabetic patients should also preserve digital documents of retina for future comparison. He also advocated regular eye check up for diabetic patients.
He said that besides Armed Force hospital (AFH), Sultan Qaboos university hospital (SQUH) and Dharmsey Eye Center (Muscat), eight government centres,, including hospitals, in different regions offer facilities to take digital images to document diabetic retinopathy.
