The Basics Of Diabetic Retinopathy

By Omar Ahmad, MD

Chesapeake Retina Centers

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The Basics Of Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease and a leading cause of blindness in American adults.

Retinal damage is caused by a complex set of events that start with damage to the retinal blood vessels. When this happens, the retina does not get the amount of blood it requires to function and stay healthy. The retina also does not get as much oxygen it needs and parts of the retina are damaged.

This damage also causes inflammation and more damage. As part of this damage and inflammation, the blood vessels may swell and leak fluid into the retina, abnormal new blood vessels can grow into the retina, or the vessels may simply close off altogether (“stroke of the eye”).

Everyone with diabetes should get a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once a year. The amount or severity of diabetic eye disease is not always correlated to how well the diabetes and blood sugars are controlled. This means that even if the diabetes is well controlled, damage to the blood vessels in the eye can still occur.

The longer someone has diabetes, the more likely there are changes in the eye due to diabetes. Nearly half of Americans diagnosed with diabetes have some degree of diabetic retinopathy.

During pregnancy, blood sugars may be difficult to control and diabetic retinopathy may worsen. To protect vision, every pregnant woman with diabetes should have a comprehensive dilated eye exam as soon as possible. Depending on the initial exam, additional exams during the pregnancy may be recommended.

There are many symptoms associated with diabetic retinopathy. The vision can be mildly or severely affected. Many times, however, there are no immediate symptoms.

The fact that the vision is not reduced, may cause a false sense of security that there is no diabetic retinopathy. This is not always the case and there can be significant damage to the retina and irreversible damage by the time the vision is affected. The severity of the visual symptoms, or unaffected vision are not good indicators of the presence of retinal damage from diabetes.

If you have diabetes get a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once a year with your eye doctor.

If you have diabetic retinopathy, you may require an eye exam more often. Your eye doctor may even ask you to see a retina specialist.

People with diabetic retinopathy can reduce their risk of blindness by 95% with timely treatment and appropriate follow-up care.