At Nazarian Optometry, we are passionate about our work and concerned about the prevalence of Diabetes in our community. I'm here to discuss in this newsletter, the importance of having your Diabetes assessed and the damage that it could cause to your eyes. I have been involved in setting up the C-EYE-C Clinic in Western Sydney at my premises in collaboration with Westmead Eye Hospital (the second largest Ophthalmology service in NSW) to screen and triage patient and provide a express pathway for treatment. In doing so we have won two state awards. Before I started this project there was a 9 month wait for treatment, we have reduced that now to less than 3 months, and in doing so we have reduced the cost of the eye hospital by 22%.

I want to discuss now about Diabetes and the eye disease it can cause, the following points are what I want you to consider:

• Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness and visual disability.
• Diabetes eye disease affects 1 in 3 people with Diabetes.
• 2014-2015 National Eye Survey found 28.5% of Diabetics had Diabetes eye disease and 4.5% had vision - threatening eye disease.
• 98% of this can be prevented.
• Vision screening is essential in preventing eye disease.
  

People living in Western Sydney have twice the chance of having Diabetes compared to people living in Coastal or Northern suburbs, this is a huge concern to me and my practice, and it has long been known that at least 50% of Diabetics eye disease is undetected. It is projected that prevalence of Diabetes will rise between 15-45% in the coming years.

A study done at Blacktown Hospital named DR SPOC study showed that 40% of patients admitted to Blacktown Hospital had Diabetes compared to the national average of 28%, and of those 16% had vision-threatening eye disease compared to national average of 4.5%. This shows the severity of the problem in my community, and this is why we like to share this information with my patients.

At Nazarian Optometry we are passionate about our work, individuals who don't have there eyes checked are more likely to develop eye disease. At our practice we are fully equipped with the latest technology and can provide quick access to Westmead Eye Hospital to all our patients using the C-EYE-C pathway. Please if you have family history of Diabetes or feel that you're overweight, see your GP and have a HBA1c blood test to rule out diabetes, and visit Nazarian Optometrists for eye assessment, we don't charge like other practices we Bulk-Bill all our eye examinations for your convenience.

Thanks,

Joseph Nazarian

B.Optom. M.Sc.Optom.