What is Diabetic Retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the world. If you are suffering from diabetes, it is important that your blood sugar level is controlled. You should also have a dilated eye exam by an ophthalmologist at least once a year.

How does diabetes affect the eye?
Diabetes affects the blood vessels in the eye, these damaged vessels will leak some blood fluids onto the retina. when the disease becomes more severe, new blood
vessels will begin to grow. These new vessels are fragile and bleed easily causing damage to the underlying retina. In some cases scaring can cause the retina to detach.

What are the chances diabetes will effect the eye?
About half the diabetic population will develop some form of diabetic retinopathy after 10 years while most will develop this after 20 years.

Will it make a difference if my retinopathy is detected early?
It certainly would, early laser treatment can make all the difference. When leaking vessels are detected, the laser can be used to seal off the vessels. The laser can also be used to prevent new vessels from growing. If you wait till there is excessive bleeding, it may not be possible to treat the retina with the laser because the blood will block the laser beam from reaching the retina.