Your Yearly Checks, in One Place
Reviewed by CDE Mehandi Sharma · Updated
Almost every diabetes complication is silent in its early stages. You do not feel your kidneys losing function or the first changes at the back of your eye. That is the entire reason for a screening schedule — it finds things while they can still be treated.
| Check | How often |
|---|---|
| Dilated eye examination | At least once a year |
| Foot examination | At every visit with your care team |
| Kidney function and urine test | At least yearly |
| Blood pressure | At every visit |
| Cholesterol | Yearly, or as advised |
| HbA1c | Every 3 to 6 months |
| Dental check-up | At least once a year |
Unlike Type 1, screening for Type 2 starts at diagnosis rather than years later. That is because Type 2 usually develops quietly over years before it is found, so damage can already be present on the day you are diagnosed.
Keep your own record of when each check was last done. In practice, screening gets missed not because anyone decides against it but because nobody is tracking it — appointments are for the problem of the day, and the annual eye exam quietly slips.
Bring that list to appointments and ask directly for whatever is overdue.