About Diabetic Retinopathy:

Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the blood vessels in the tissue in the back of the eye called the retina. There are less than 200,000 cases in the US per year. One risk factor is poorly managed blood sugar.

Diabetic Retinopathy Symptoms:

• Floaters

• Distorted Vision and blurriness

• Impaired color vision and dark areas of vision

• Blindness may occur

What treatment options are available for diabetic Retinopathy?

• Self-care and prevention by proper blood sugar (glucose) management, regular exercise, medications and diabetic diet

• Vitrectomy to surgically remove the clear jelly-like vitreous gel that fills the inside of your eye

• Laser coagulation uses heat from a laser to seal off bleeding blood vessels in the eye

• Laser surgery uses a hot focused beam of light to remove damaged tissue and control bleeding in the eye

• Medications may include a blood vessel growth inhibitor to prevent growth of abnormal blood vessels

• Steroid reduces inflammation and stimulates tissue to repair and new tissue growth

There are two main stages of the diabetic eye disease NPDR and PDR.

Non-proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (NPDR)

This is the early stage of NPDR where tiny blood vessels leak making the retina swells called macula edema. This is the most common reason people with diabetes lose their vision.