Diabetes and Your Eyes: Why Screening Matters
Nearly one in six Jordanian adults over 40 lives with diabetes. Early retinopathy has no symptoms at all, which is exactly why the examination is scheduled rather than prompted.
Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of preventable sight loss in working-age adults. What makes it dangerous is not how aggressive it is, but how quiet: by the time vision blurs, damage has usually been accumulating for years.
Why this matters particularly in Jordan
A population-based analysis of the 2017–2018 Jordan Demographic and Health Survey found a diabetes prevalence of 15.8% among adults aged 40 and over, with around 60% of those diagnosed falling in the 40–59 age band.1 That is a large population of working-age adults carrying a risk to their sight, many of whom feel perfectly fine.
How often you should be screened
The American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Preferred Practice Pattern sets out clear intervals:2
- Type 1 diabetes: annual screening beginning five years after the onset of the disease.
- Type 2 diabetes: screening promptly at the time of diagnosis, then at least yearly thereafter.
The difference reflects how the two conditions are found. Type 2 diabetes is often present for years before it is diagnosed, which means retinopathy can already be established on the day you are told you have diabetes. That is why the first eye examination is due immediately, not five years later.
If retinopathy is found at any stage, you should be referred to an ophthalmologist.2 Screening is not the end of the process. It is what tells you whether treatment is needed while treatment still works well.
What the examination involves
A diabetic eye screening is painless and takes under an hour. Drops are used to widen the pupil so the retina can be examined and photographed; expect your vision to be blurry and light-sensitive for a few hours afterwards, so arrange not to drive yourself home. Retinal imaging gives a permanent record, which matters because the most useful thing a doctor can see is the comparison with last year’s image.
What you are protecting against
Early retinopathy often has no symptoms at all. As it advances, damaged vessels leak or close off, new and fragile vessels can grow, and fluid can collect at the macula, the part of the retina responsible for fine detail. Treatments exist at every one of these stages, including laser and intravitreal injections, and they work considerably better when started early. Vision already lost is far harder to recover than vision kept.
What helps besides screening
Blood glucose control, blood pressure control and blood lipid management all reduce the risk and slow progression of retinopathy. Screening does not replace any of them. It tells you and your doctor how well they are working, in the one organ where the small blood vessels can be seen directly.
If you have diabetes and have not had your eyes checked this year
Book it. Not because something is necessarily wrong, but because the point of screening is to look when nothing feels wrong.
Book your diabetic eye screening
Retinal imaging, dilated examination and a record to compare against next year.
Book an AppointmentSources
- Al-Tawil M, et al. Prevalence and socioeconomic factors of diabetes: a population-based cross-sectional analysis from Jordan. Analysis of the 2017–2018 Jordan Demographic and Health Survey. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- American Academy of Ophthalmology. Diabetic Retinopathy Preferred Practice Pattern, 2024. aao.org
- American Diabetes Association. Retinopathy, Neuropathy, and Foot Care: Standards of Care in Diabetes. diabetesjournals.org
This article is general information, not medical advice. Findings vary from person to person, and only an examination can tell you what applies to your eyes.