The symptoms

When diabetic retinopathy starts to affect your vision, you may notice you have difficulty with reading and close-up work. Floaters in your vision and double vision may also be symptoms, although they can have other causes too.

In some cases, the condition may also lead to glaucoma.

Understanding the condition

Diabetic retinopathy has a number of stages:

Non-proliferative:

The early or ‘non-proliferative’ stages are characterised by damage to the blood vessels in the retina, but your vision tends not to be affected.

Proliferative:

Once the disease reaches the more advanced ‘proliferative’ stage, abnormal and fragile blood vessels begin to grow on the retina.

Macular Oedema:

In this problem, the abnormal blood vessels leak fluid into the macula – the centre of the retina – causing blurred vision. 

Vitreous Haemorrhage:

Sometimes, the abnormal blood vessels can bleed into the vitreous ‘gel’ inside the eye. This is known as a vitreous haemorrhage, and can also cause blurred vision.

Treatment

As soon as you are diagnosed with diabetes, you should make an appointment for a diabetic retinopathy check up. If you are diagnosed with this condition, your treatment will depend on the stage of the disease. Talk to our eye specialists about diabetic retinopathy treatment today.