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There are a variety of reasons to keep up with your health care.  Most diseases are far easier to address if they are detected early and treatment is started early.  The eyes are no exception.  The eyes require special attention because they are often considered human being’s primary sensory organs.  Eye disease is often subtle and many times the early stages of eye disease carry no symptoms that a patient could detect on their own.  Regular eye care allows the eye doctors at Vista Eye Care to use their experience and knowledge to detect abnormalities early and help assure that patients do everything they can to achieve a lifetime of healthy eyes and great vision.  An annual check-up certainly includes the standard glasses exam (called a “refraction”), but also a variety of other inquiries into the eye’s health that makes the annual eye exam an integral part of a patient’s overall healthcare.

Children may stand with the most to gain with early and regular eye care.  Most of a child’s learning occurs visually and this underscores the importance of getting an exam early in life.  Dr. Brian Abert , O.D., FAAO and Dr. Deanna Pedroza, O.D. are the founding doctors of Vista Eye Care, and they both participate in InfantSEE, a program started by the American Optometric Association (AOA) that promotes eye exams for children aged 6-12 months.  Infant eye exams are generally quite easy, and permit early detection of disease.  According to the AOA, “of the three to four million babies born every year in the United States, 1 in 20,000 has retinoblastoma, 1 in 25 will develop strabismus, and 1 in 30 will develop amblyopia.”  Diagnosing these disorders early is incredibly important.

Early eye disease often doesn’t present with anything that the patient will recognize as being out of the ordinary.  Glaucoma, for example, is a potentially devastating eye disease that often presents with no symptoms at all.  Very subtle change to a patient’s peripheral vision, changes to the appearance of the optic nerve, and changes to the eyes’ internal pressure are the responsible mechanisms that result in glaucoma, and measuring and observing these qualities can only be accomplished using specialty equipment.  As the second-leading cause of blindness in the United States, glaucoma diagnosis is critical at an early stage in the disease process.  Cataracts are also detected through regular eye care.

Diabetic retinopathy occurs in patients with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes.  According to the AOA, “the longer a person has diabetes, the more likely they are to develop diabetic retinopathy, particularly if the diabetes is poorly controlled.”  The optometrists at Vista Eye Care recommend all diabetic patients (including those patients with “pre-diabetes”) be seen for a yearly, dilated retinal examination.  After the examination, a thorough report is sent to that patient’s primary care physician and/or endocrinologist and an additional copy of that report is provided to the patient for their own records.  Communication between the health disciplines is key to efficient disease prevention, ocular and otherwise.

We certainly have patients that give us the line, “my vision is fine, I don’t need an eye exam.”  We would counter with the thought that vision is irreplaceable, and too much knowledge can be gained through regular eye care to put off checking the health of the most valuable of our senses.  Please call our office today at (303) 450-2020 to schedule annual check-ups for you and your family.  Our office is all about educating patients on how to prevent eye disease, and how to keep eyes working to their full visual potential!

Ready to schedule your annual eye check-up?

Ready to schedule your annual eye check-up?