Dr. Waleed Abdul Rahman Al-Turki Diabetes is considered one of the most serious diseases of the contemporary age. As many as 347 million people around the world are diabetic, according to the latest statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Middle East is one of the most affected areas in the world. About 20 percent of the Kingdom's population is suffering from this disease. Dr. Waleed Abdul Rahman Al-Turki, consultant and head of the retina sections in Al-Magrabi Hospitals and Eye Centers, who is a member of the American Board, attributed the causes of diabetes to hereditary factors, bad eating habits and lack of sports. He said diabetes has a number of complications on the eye in general and on the retina in particular, which on its part, will adversely affect eyesight. Al-Turki said the complications in the retina usually starts with small bleeding before aggravating to serious damages and total detachment. He warned that if the patient did not receive proper and timely treatment, he or she may lose eyesight. He recommended that the diabetic person should follow up the disease with an eye specialist to make sure that the retina has not been affected by diabetes. Al-Turki did not specify a certain date for the follow up but said it should be regular and done at different phases depending on the health condition of the patient. “If all is well, the follow up may be done annual,” he added. He said the treatment varies according to the level of seriousness of the complications in the retina caused by diabetes. “There is laser treatment and injection of medicines in the eye. The surgical intervention is an important option especially in case of the progression of the disease,” he said. Al-Turki assured the patients that the equipment currently being used in the retina surgeries are highly developed and have made quantitative leap in these surgeries. “The patients with retina diabetic diseases now have great hope that they can be cured and saved from losing their eyesight,” he said.
