Around 1.7 million Australians have diabetes, and almost 6000 children under 14 have type 1 diabetes. Half of Australia’s diabetics probably don’t know they have it.

The Lions Clubs have had a long tradition of supporting eye care. I have been very grateful to the Aspley Lions Club in particular for their support in the development and implementation of our Telemedicine program for Retinopathy of Prematurity screening at the Mater Mothers Hospital.

People often ask me why they need a current referral to see an ophthalmologist. The bureaucratic answer is that without a referral you can’t access the medicare rebate, but this may actually be the least important reason. Many people find it hard to remember details of their medical history, or their current (and past) medications. And it may not be immediately obvious which of these details are significant for their eye health.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease in which a person’s immune system attacks their central nervous system. It most commonly affects young people, with an average age at diagnosis of just 30 years. There is no cure, and it can cause

Last week the New England Journal of Medicine published the study eye care professionals have long been waiting for, comparing treatments for macular degeneration (AMD). The CATT study (“Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials”) was funded by the American National Eye Institute (NEI) to compare Lucentis and Avastin head-to-head in the treatment of AMD.

After last night’s “A Current Affair” story about laser cataract surgery I expect to be fielding a lot of questions next week.