Do you have diabetes? Know someone who does? In honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month, I wanted to share a few important facts about diabetes and the eyes:

1. Many people who do not know they have diabetes first find out from their eye doctor. A common complication of diabetes is diabetic retinopathy in which elevated blood sugar damages the delicate blood vessels inside the eye, causing them to leak, bleed, and become blocked. There are 6.2 million people with diabetes who are unaware they have the disease.