Monnett Eye & Optical Center

Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is damage to the eye's retina that occurs with long-term diabetes. Unfortunately, often diabetic retinopathy has no symptoms until the damage to your eyes is severe. This is why everyone with diabetes should have regular eye exams.

Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to blood vessels of the retina. The retina is the layer of tissue at the back of the inner eye. It changes light and images that enter the eye into nerve signals that are sent to the brain.

During the early stages of diabetic retinopathy, the damage inside the eye typically progresses slowly and does not produce affect on vision.

In advanced retinopathy, new blood vessels grow in the retina. These new vessels are the body's attempt replace the vessels that have been damaged by diabetes. Unfortunately, these new vessels are may bleed and cause the vision to become hazy or even lose vision.

Diabetic retinopathy can also lead to other eye conditions such as cataracts, galucoma, and retinal detachment.

Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy:
There are usually NO SYMTOMS in the EARLY STAGES of diabetic retinopathy so please be certain to maintain regular eye checkups especially if you have diabetes!
  • Floaters--specks, spots, or blobs floating in the vision
  • Difficulty seeing nearby objects or fine print
  • Double vision
  • If left untreated, severe vision loss or blindness can occur

Causes of diabetic retinopathy:
  • Diabetes: Everyone who has diabetes is at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy. Normally, diabetics are not at high risk of developing diabetic retinopathy for at least 10 years after contracting diabetes.

You can reduce your risk of diabetic retinopathy!
  • Please keep excellent control of your blood sugar.
  • Maintain healthy blood pressure.
  • Maintain a healthy diet.
  • Maintain a regular exercising routine.
  • Maintain regular eye exams (at least once a year!)


Diagnosing diabetic retinopathy:
There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy. Vision may not change until the disease becomes severe. An exam is often the only way to diagnose changes in the vessels of your eyes. This is why regular examinations for people with diabetes are extremely important.

You eye doctor may perform a test called fluorescein angiography. During the test, a harmless orange-red dye called Fluorescein will be injected into a vein in your arm. The dye will travel through your body to the blood vessels in your retina. Your doctor will use a special camera with a green filter to flash a blue light into your eye and take multiple photographs. The pictures will be analyzed to identify any damage to the lining of the retina or atypical new blood vessels.

Treatment for diabetic retinopathy:
Diabetic retinopathy does not usually impair sight until the development of long-term complications, including proliferative retinopathy (when abnormal new blood vessels bleed into the eye). When this advanced stage of retinopathy occurs, pan-retinal photocoagulation is performed. During this procedure, a laser is used to destroy all of the dead areas of retina where blood vessels have been closed. When these areas are treated with the laser, the retina stops manufacturing new blood vessels, and those that are already present tend to decrease or disappear.

If diabetic retinopathy has caused your body to form cataracts, they can be corrected with cataract surgery.