Diabetes, the silent killer

A few years back, Mrs Mildred Mombe ( 52) was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. She was put on medication and the symptoms she had been experiencing began to become manageable. All, but one.

She had been experiencing blurry vision and sometimes she would see floating spots in her eyes.

The doctor had told her that she needed spectacles as her eyesight had been affected by the diabetes.

But to date, she has not acquired the pair of glasses needed to alleviate her problem because she cannot afford the fees for the eye tests and the prescription spectacles.

So instead of getting better after detection of diabetes, her condition is worsening.

“Sometimes my eyes are so painful that I cannot see,” said Mrs Mombe. “I might even need to sit down to reorient myself so that I know which direction I was moving. I have had this problem for years.

“When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I was told that l needed to get spectacles for my eyes but I could not afford to get them. The specs cost US$ 120 but I just did not have it. I try to eat healthy always and to make sure my blood sugar is normal, but this eye problem will not go away.”

Diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose ( or blood sugar), which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.

Diabetic retinopathy, the blindness caused by diabetes, is one of the stealthy complications that can affect and overwhelm diabetics during the course of their disease.

The disease, which affects the eyes, occurs when blood sugar levels fluctuate in the body over time.

At its worst, diabetic retinopathy can result in partial or total blindness.

Mrs Mombe is one of many Zimbabweans suffering from diabetes. She is fortunate that her diabetes has been identified and she is now on treatment.

But for millions of other Zimbabweans, they are still in the dark as to why their eyesight is failing them or why they have been having such problems.

According to chief Government ophthalmologist and head of Sekuru Kaguvi Eye Hospital Dr Boniface Macheka, half of people living with diabetes are not aware of their condition, which could pose challenges in reducing the disease burden in the country.

“Diabetes mellitus is a major cause of blindness,” he said. ‘ We have done research as the Ministry of Health and Child Care, and the survey showed that 10 percent of our people are living with diabetes mellitus, but 50 percent of them actually do not know that they have diabetes, which is a real problem.”

While the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy is high for everyone with diabetes, there are chances of lowering the risk by controlling the diabetes.

Dr Macheka said a lot could be done to reduce the incidence of diabetes, which then causes blindness in some cases.

Chief among the prevention strategies is a dietary change.

A healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes, which is the most common type among adults.

“We have had high incidence of diabetes because we have run away from our traditional foods,” said Dr Macheka. “Fortunately, because of these recurrent droughts, people are now going back to traditional foods, small grains that are healthy. If we can all go back to this type of diet, we can reduce the risk of diabetes mellitus.”

Dr Macheka said although the disease can be hereditary, lifestyle changes could protect those at high risk from getting it.

While diabetes is among the causes of blindness in Zimbabwe, there are other conditions that can affect people’s eye health.

These include congenital cataracts, glaucoma, eye trauma, measles and retinoblastoma.

Dr Macheka said it was worrying that people only become aware of eye health when they developed problems with their eyes.

“There are things that people should know and do before they experience problems with their eyes,” he said. “If they know that it will help us to prevent avoidable blindness. Eye health problems vary and there are many of them according to age groups.

“The most affected age group is the over 50s, who start having challenges from some of the diseases we have prioritised in our national eye health strategy.”

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga this week launched the national eye health strategy which seeks to come up with ways of reducing the burden of eye disease in the country.

“The strategy’s main objective is to direct Zimbabwe’s Government in eliminating preventable blindness by providing all citizens with sustainable eye care delivery services that are promotional, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative,” he said.

“To achieve this, the government, its development partners and the populace must understand that preventing and controlling blindness are not optional actions, but rather essential to ensuring everyone in the nation has access to good health and wellbeing for the sake of the common good in national development.”