At 20, Melanie Vella had a routine eye check that revealed changes to the retina of her eyes. Having lived with Type 1 diabetes since age 5, Melanie is very much aware of the risks to her eyesight.

"The longer you have diabetes, the greater the risk of diabetic retinopathy", says Melanie. " I had had diabetes for 15 years by then, the stage when three out of four diabetics will have begun suffering some damage to their eyes."

At this stage, Melanie was referred to ophthalmologist Prof. Paul Mitchell at Westmead Hospital. After mild non-proliferative retinopathy was detected she was treated with laser treatment in both eyes. The treatment was successful in restoring her clear vision. For the next three years, Melanie had six-monthly check ups and better controlled her sugar levels. To date, there had been no further changes to Melanie's vision and her check ups have recently been reduced to annually.

Diabetes is the cause of 10% of blindness in Australia and is the most common cause of blindness in people under 65. "My grandfather suffered from cataracts as a complication of Type 2 diabetes, so the risks are very real for me," says Melanie.

For diabetics the risks are high, and Melanie's story emphasises the importance of regular eye checks. In addition, the importance of research into this eye condition and its treatment contributes to the increased success rate of laser treatment as was the case for Melanie."I am extremely grateful for the developments in eye research - I don't like to imagine how my sight would be without laser surgery," Melanie says.