Diabetes sign could be hiding in your eye, doctor warns

Hidden warning signs of serious health issues like diabetes and high blood pressure could be lying undetected in your eyes. However, a pioneering test now available at Boots might offer individuals a chance to spot these warnings early on. The optomap is an advanced test designed to give optometrists a view of over 80 per cent more of the retina, which is much more than what is visible during a standard eye examination.

This does not require dilating drops, making it hassle-free and even suitable for children to undergo. Dr Philippa Kaye emphasised how this machine could be instrumental in identifying 'signs of conditions like eye tumours, high blood pressure, diabetes and retinal detachment'. While typical retina examinations reveal only about 15 per cent, stitching together images from an optomap can unveil nearly 100 per cent of the retina.



In a conversation with Reach, Dr Kaye explained: "It gives us a greater understanding of what is going on." She shared her own experience of the cutting-edge scan, saying: "You put your eye close to the machine and essentially see a sweep of green light across your eye. It doesn’t hurt at all and takes literally a matter of seconds.

Because your eyes haven’t been dilated you can go out and about as normal. There’s no reason that people can’t have it." Shedding light on the user-friendliness of the machine, she added: "They just need to be able to look into the machine, the inventor designed it specifically for his own young child so it was really important that even children were able to use it.

Diabetes, high blood pressure (signs are) in the back of the eye, we need to change our thinking that eye tests are just about vision." In highlighting the broader benefits of regular eye exams, Dr Kaye said: "Your eye test is actually part of a comprehensive eye check, it’s not like our eyes are separate from the rest of our body. Vision tests are just the reading and the; ‘Is this better with lens one.

.. or lens two'.

Going into detail, she said: "Actually, (optometrist) will look at the front of your eye, your eyelashes and the glands around your eyelid." Dr Philippa Kaye is working in partnership with Boots Opticians for the launch of the new optomap scan which is part of the Boots Opticians Ultimate Eye Test. For more information visit here .

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