Day dedicated to retirees needing routine, diabetic eye exams

In honor of “Save Your Vision Month,” the optometry clinic at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is dedicating March 29 to retirees who need routine and/or diabetic eye exams.

The clinic is reserving 36 appointments for retirees needing routine and/or diabetic exams to come in and have their eyes checked on a first-come, first-served basis.
Appointments can be made by calling 486-LRMC (5762) or 06371-86-5762.

Patients are asked to bring an escort because exams involve dilation of the eyes. Routine eye exams are especially important for retirees and diabetics patients.
“The risk factor for ocular complications increases with certain medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, and thus there
is urgency for this group to have a routine eye exam. Ocular complications include glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration; the better the prognosis with earlier detection,” said Dr. (Col.) Donovan G. Green, chief of the LRMC Optometry Clinic and optometry consultant for Europe Regional Medical Command.

Although March is set aside to highlight taking care of our eyes, Green said it is important that everyone understands the importance of routine eye exams for detecting potentially serious unsuspected problems — and not necessarily related only to our eyes.

“Many people believe that because they see well, they do not need eye care,” Green said. “This is simply not true. Several common eye diseases such as glaucoma can damage vision with very few or no symptoms until the condition is very advanced. Regular eye examinations can help detect systemic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. The eye is the only place in the body where we can view the blood vessels directly and evaluate their health without invasive procedure.”

The American Optometry Association recommendations for eye examinations are:
6 to 18 years old: 6 months old; 3 years old, before starting school; then every two years.
18 to 40 years old: every two years.
41 to 60 years old: every two years.
61 and older: every year.

(Courtesy of LRMC Public Affairs)