Do you know everything you should know about diabetes? I thought I did until I read some of this stuff:

The start of American Diabetes Month has prompted optometrists to stress the largely unknown connection between eye exams and detecting diabetes.

Using an unobstructed view of blood vessels via the eye, optometrists can see leakage, swelling and other signs of diabetes. It’s one of the simplest ways of identifying the disease.

“When people come in for a routine checkup, we’re looking for a lot of different things. Checking for diabetes is definitely on the list,” said Dr. Gary Scearce of Eagle Eye Care in Crown Point.

If these symptoms are detected at an early age, doctors can prevent vision loss in 90 percent of diabetics, said Dr. Vic Malinovsky, a clinical associate professor at the Indiana University School of Optometry.

“But diabetes continues to be a common cause of serious loss of vision,” Malinovsky said. “There’s obviously a disconnect there. We obviously aren’t getting the message out.”

Eye exams don’t only identify diabetes; they monitor the disease’s progress by tracking changes in the patient’s eyeglasses prescription.

Yet in 2001, only 71 percent of diabetics received a dilated eye exam within the last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Doctors say an annual exam should be at the top of the preventive care list for diabetics.

“A professional eye exam lets us check things people won’t be able to see themselves,” Scearce said. “But there are people that shun the doctor. They get to the point they can’t read the menu anymore, then they come see us.”

When an optometrist dilates the retina, he or she can see blood vessels without having to look through skin or tissue. This explicit view exposes leakage, bleeding, swelling or poor circulation in the retina — all signs of diabetes.