The systemic disease diabetes can cause many health problems, one of which is diabetic retinopathy. High blood sugar in diabetics causes the blood vessels in the retina to swell and leak blood, and damage the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye. This disease can cause blindness if not treated.

Causes

Diabetics who are insulin-dependent as well as those who are not may develop diabetic retinopathy. Fluctuating blood sugar levels leads to an increased risk of this disease, as well as long-term diabetes. Generally, diabetics don't develop diabetic retinopathy until they've had diabetes for at least 10 years.

Symptoms

Sometimes the early stage of diabetic retinopathy exhibits no symptoms, or you may encounter blurred vision. Later stages of the disease produce cloudy vision, blind spots or floaters.

Most Common Treatments

The best treatment for diabetic retinopathy is prevention. Keeping your blood sugar at an even level will help. Diabetics should see their eye care practitioner on a yearly basis beginning five years after diagnosis. Frequent follow-up may catch any retinal changes early so treatment will help prevent vision loss.

Diabetic retinopathy is diagnosed as either nonproliferative (background) or proliferative. In the nonproliferative form, small retinal blood vessels break and leak, forming a small pouch filled with leaked blood. In this early stage of diabetic retinopathy, you may notice distorted or blurred vision from the blood that is obscuring the light-sensitive retina. Your eye care practitioner may diagnose nonproliferative retinopathy with fluorescein angiography. In this test, dye is injected into the body, and it gradually appears within the retina due to blood flow. Your eye care practitioner will photograph the retina with the illuminated dye. Evaluating these pictures tells your doctor how far the disease has progressed.

If you are diagnosed with proliferative retinopathy, new blood vessels grow abnormally within the retina. This new growth can lead to scarring or retinal detachment, a separation of the retina from its supporting tissue, which can lead to vision loss. The new blood vessels may also grow or bleed into the vitreous humor, the transparent gel filling the eyeball in front of the retina. Proliferative retinopathy is much more serious than the nonproliferative form and can lead to total blindness.

Diabetic retinopathy can be treated with laser photocoagulation to seal off leaking blood vessels and destroy new growth. Laser photocoagulation doesn't cause pain, because the retina does not contain nerve endings. Another procedure called a vitrectomy removes blood that has leaked into the vitreous humor. Lost vitreous humor is gradually replaced by the body, and vision improves.