Couldn't agree more. The off the shelf glasses also have a component of the prescription missing (cyl) so are rarely likely to offer full correction for either eye. Also as the lenses are not centred in the frame at the pupils (unless by a fluke) there is a prism effect, the eyes may have to turn while looking through them to avoid breaking into double vision. A crappy idea all round.
They did ask me about that and my Dad suffers with it, so should I have the test somewhere?
All the best ..
T i m
I imagine the one I worked in was a bad one. It was instruction from management that I describe, the optician who sees you is likely to be a locum anyway albeit a regular locum. If they see you for a test you will get a good one, it is far from their best interests not to test you properly.
What form does a test for diabetes take though .. is it a blood test finger prick thing?
All the best ..
T i m
I am a lowly dispensing optician so this is far from my field but with diabetes there are changes in the retina which the optician would see when looking in the eye which would give it away. I am sure it is possible to have diabetes without is showing on the retina though.
It is usually a urine test (so no fear of doing a Tony Hancock and worrying about an armful of blood being taken). It would be done by your GP, not an optician.
The eyes are useful in detecting a number of things in that they are the only place in the body that you can actually look at blood vessels without painful dissection. Opticians are trained to detect some of these as it is a useful backstop to primary tests but it doesn't replace these tests.
I think a lot of pharmacists will do it now (whether for free or not I don't know).
Obviously, thoroughly wash the jam-jar before providing the 'sample' otherwise a false positive may result.
Owain
Its usually a blood test..
Starve for 12 hours.. drink some glucose solution.. have blood test.. wait.. blood test.. wait.. blood test.
If your blood sugar is above 7 after 2 hours you have a problem.
That's not a standard test for diabetes, but a glucose tolerance test. It is not routinely used for diagnosis of at least type 2 diabetes, but when the standard tests are inconclusive but there is a suspicion that diabetes or insulin resistance may be present.
The standard test is a blood sample taken after 12 hrs of fasting. If the blood glucose level is over 6.7mmol/l in whole blood (7.8 in plasma) then usually that is conclusive. Generally, two tests are made. If the second is over this line it represents a positive diagnosis. If not, but there are other symptoms, then GTT and other tests may be performed.
Urine tests are no longer used as a primary method for the diagnosis of diabetes.
This is because the level of blood glucose required before spillage occurs into urine is 10-11 mmol/l in terms of a blood reading.
That is *way* into the band for diabetic diagnosis.
Nowadays, conventional diagnosis is made by a fasting blood glucose test. This involves an overnight fast (12 hours) and an earlyish visit to the GP surgery, typically appointment with a practice nurse. A blood sample is taken from the arm and sent to the path laboratory for blood glucose level. Typically other tests such as lipid profiles are ordered for the same sample since there are often correlations between diabetes and poor lipid profiles. If the first test comes back with a figure of > 6.7mmol/l for whole blood (more for plasma), a second test is done. Two are considered to be a postive diagnosis.
To answer another question, yes it is possible to do a DIY test if you wish. Chemists sell test meters with a starter kit of a finger pricker, lancets and a few test strips, mostly for
Yes it does seem that Specsavers are getting out of that business and disposing of equipment, although part of that is because of eye screening programmes being set up by PCTs.
However, they are being somewhat short sighted (if you'll forgive the expression).
Following a diabetic diagnosis and treatment following it (for example tablet medication for type 2), it is very common for the prescription required for eyesight correction to change over the following months as good blood glucose control is achieved.
Quite often this means that new glasses are required.......
I go to a local independent optician who has the equipment and appropriate qualification for retinopathy evaluation. His prices on spectacles are not as good as Specsavers and the rest, but he has a good range of products and provides a good service. I tend to buy on service and not on price.
I also go for the image camera eye screenings each year. It's a 20 minute exercise and worth the effort.
Considering the importance of eye sight, I think that two opinions and data sets once a year is a good investment of time and money.
Definitely.
it's quite straightforward.
The fun starts with managing the condition although there are a number of ways to do that.
Yes it is. The object of routine examination is to try to avoid retinopathy from happening if at all possible, as well as a number of other 'opathies such as neuropathy.
Ahh. Sorry I assumed it was due to detachment of the vitreous from the back of the eye, which can tear the retina and, in turn, lead to detachment. Trauma is a relatively rare cause.
I had been warned that once it has detached, the operation is much more complicated.
When I had my cryosurgery I was back at work by 11:30 am. I had been scheduled to be second on the list, out of the six eye ops they do every morning. However, there was a problem with the laser and, as I didn't need it, I went in first.
A friend of mine found that the main problem of them correcting her sight to about +1 when doing her cataract was that gave a fairly large imbalance between the corrections needed for each eye, which gave her headaches. However, she should be getting the other one done within the next few weeks.
Colin Bignell
They are, however, used for routine screening of people who are in the at risk category.
Colin Bignell
Yes, but somewhat pointlessly because of the large gap between the blood test level and urine test levels.
There are a number of 'at risk' categories and they are not as clearly defined as one would think.
From what I hear from various contacts in the medical profession, it is likely to be phased out. The only reason that it's still done is because it is still on the lists of tests to be done for things like insurance medicals and because the test costs pence rather than a few pounds for a lab test.
Already changes have been and are being made for ongoing GP surgery tests for diabetics for checking of blood glucose control. Traditionally this has been done using a fasting test as per diagnosis. It was supplemented by the haemoglobin A1c (aka HbA1c) test a few years ago, because that is said to provide a better indication of good diabetic control than the single measurement of fasting BG level on one day.
The fasting BG test is being withdrawn for the purposes of ongoing monitoring as a result. Unfortunately this has also led to the notion among the NHS bean counters that finger prick testing by patients themselves is no longer necessary and hence they can save a bundle by not prescribing test strips for Type 2 diabetics. It's cheaper for them to prescribe tablets, hope they work and measure the result once a year. Unfortunately, this does not allow the patient to monitor the effect of influencing factors such as different types of food at different times of the day, exercise and so on; so somewhat short sighted.
It's a pointless test because a negative result is far from being a negative diagnosis. Blood glucose levels can be horrendously out of control before this test shows anything amiss.
That would be a big problem for people like me who are on diet control and don't take pills.
I know. There is a proposal going the rounds for PCTs to limit T2s to 100 strips a year; which as I am sure you know, is nowhere near enough to be useful. The claim is that measuring is only useful to users of insulin for avoidance of hypoglycaemia. Of course, this misses the point.
My local Tesco in Watford *does* do glasses...
;-)
Dane
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