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Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is the third leading cause of blindness for all age groups. Anyone who has diabetes is at risk for this disease. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy is higher among Hispanics, African Americans, and Native Americans. Usually, the longer a person has diabetes the higher their risk for diabetic retinopathy.

Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy include decreases in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, color perception, and dark/light adaptation. The photos below show what vision is like for someone with diabetic retinopathy compared to someone with normal vision.

Credit: National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health

Treatment

Although there is no cure for diabetic retinopathy, there are two treatments that are very effective. If patients seek treatment before the retina is severely damaged they have a 90 percent chance of keeping their vision. The two treatments are:

Laser surgery: This procedure is used to treat severe macular edema and proliferative retinopathy. The laser seals the vessels which are leaking fluid and controls the macular edema. The laser can also destroy the abnormal blood vessels that form with proliferative retinopathy.
Vitrectomy: This is a surgical procedure in which bloody vitreous is removed and replaced with a salt solution. Studies show that people who have a vitrectomy soon after a large hemorrhage are more likely to protect their vision than someone who waits to have the operation.

Prevention

All diabetics should see an eye doctor (i.e., opthalmologist) annually to detect abnormalities before they affect visual acuity. The NIH Diabetes Control and Complications Trail (DCCT) completed in 1993, showed that early diagnosis of diabetes and strict control of blood sugar levels were key to preventing eye disease and reducing vision loss.