People with diabetes may develop diabetic retinopathy, a condition in which elevated blood glucose damages blood vessels in the retina. This can lead to visual symptoms like blurriness, distortion, and eventual vision loss. Managing diabetes can slow down and even reverse diabetic retinopathy, but regular diabetic eye exams are crucial for detecting and treating it before vision-saving medication and laser treatment become necessary.
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Brittni Scruggs, MD, PhD
Medical Reviewer
Brittni Scruggs, MD, PhD, is an adult and pediatric vitreoretinal surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Scruggs teaches medical students, graduate students, residents, and fellows, and she participates in several clinical trials for inherited retinal diseases. As one of the principal investigators in the Mayo Retinal Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, Scruggs focuses on the optimization of gene therapy and cell-based therapy for improved safety and efficacy in patients with retinal degeneration. She is a member of the Mayo Gene Therapy Working Group.
Kacy Church, MD, practices as a clinical endocrinologist with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in Burlingame, California. She balances both outpatient and inpatient responsibilities, seeing a variety of patients with diabetes, as well as thyroid and pituitary disorders.
Dr. Church always knew that she wanted to pursue endocrinology because the specialty allows for healthy change through patient empowerment. She completed her fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism in 2017 at Stanford University in California.
She loves running, dancing, and watching her sons play sports.
Ghazala O'Keefe, MD, is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, where she also serves as the section director for uveitis and as a fellowship director. A retina and uveitis specialist, she cares for both pediatric patients and adults with inflammatory and infectious eye diseases. She oversees the largest uveitis section in the Southeast and manages the care of complex patients with physicians from other disciplines.
She is the lead editor of the EyeWiki uveitis section. She is a member of the executive committee of the American Uveitis Society and was inducted into the International Uveitis Study Group. She has served as the director of the Southeastern Vitreoretinal Seminar since 2019.
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