Diabetic retinopathy is an eye condition that occurs when the blood vessels in the back of the eye become more abundant, leak fluid, and bleed as a complication of diabetes. The longer a person is diabetic, the higher their chance of developing diabetic retinopathy.
At first, diabetic retinopathy may have no symptoms or cause only mild vision problems. As time goes by, it can potentially lead to vision loss.
Because the early stages of this condition may not produce any symptoms, it is vital that patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes undergo regular comprehensive dilated eye exams in order to accurately diagnose diabetic retinopathy. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, contact Pupila Family Eye & Ear Care in Houston today.
There are two stages of diabetic retinopathy: non-proliferative and proliferative retinopathy. In the early, non-proliferative stages, symptoms may be very minimal or non-existent.
In proliferative retinopathy, there may be noticeable vision changes that can indicate significant deterioration of eye health, such as diabetic macular edema, the swelling of the macula and the most common cause of vision loss in those with diabetic retinopathy. Some of these symptoms include:
When blood sugar levels run too high, small blood vessels throughout the body can become damaged, including the blood vessels in the retina (the light-sensitive lining in the back of the eye). The sugar in the blood blocks the blood cells from passing through the tiny blood vessels in the eye, causing them to leak fluid or bleed. The body then regenerates new blood vessels to compensate for the damaged ones in a process called “proliferation,” but these new blood vessels may also bleed or leak easily.
