What do experts wish patients knew about eye health?

Our team spoke with several researchers and industry professionals at the 2023 American Society of Retina Specialists meeting in Seattle, Washington. We asked, "What do you wish patients knew about eye health?" Here's what Durga Borkar, MD, MMCi, Aaron Lee, MD, and Carl Danzig, MD, had to say!

Video Transcript

Editor's note - This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Durga Borkar, MD, MMCi:

I think particularly when thinking about this patient population, I wish that they knew more about how important screening was an early intervention for both diabetic macular edema and peripheral diabetic retinopathy. That's one of the most important things for preventing irreversible vision loss from this disease.

Aaron Lee, MD:

Yeah, that's a loaded question. Everything. I think it's one thing that gets underappreciated by patients, especially when they're just beginning the journey is really the burden of all the things that we're going to be doing with them over the course of years. So understanding the sort of the socioeconomic impact of retinal therapeutics is something I think gets lost in the conversations very early on with patients. And I wish there was a way to kind of push that education out to the public a little bit more so that they're are aware that this is not just one injection, one time, and you're done for the rest of your life. It's really sort of a life-changing moment the moment that you have neovascular AMD. So that burden of treatment is something that I think most people in the public do not appreciate.

Carl Danzig, MD:

I wish that they knew that even with good vision, they can have bad diseases and it is important have regular dilated examination with an eye health professional to assure overall ocular health, including retina, because sometimes people have retina problems and they don't know it. Sometimes people have problems with glaucoma. They don't know it. Therefore, a regular checkup is essential.