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Retinopathy can move through four stages:

• STAGE 1 (mild)
  Small balloon-like bulges form in the retina’s tiny blood vessels. These bulges may leak fluid into the retina.

• STAGE 2 (moderate)
  Leaking fluid causes swelling in the retina. The blood vessels swell too and may begin to block up.

• STAGE 3 (severe)
  More blood vessels block up. This keeps oxygen-rich blood from reaching parts of the retina. Starved of oxygen, those areas in the retina release a protein called VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). This tells the retina to grow more blood vessels to get more oxygen.

• STAGE 4 (advanced)
  The retina grows more blood vessels, but the new vessels aren’t normal. They’re fragile and they grow in the wrong places—inside the surface of the retina and towards the front of the eye as well. These vessels often leak and bleed, clouding vision. Scar tissue forms, and the retina may pull loose from the wall of the eye. This can lead to permanent vision loss. If vessels grow in the front of the eye, painful glaucoma can result.

 

Who’s most at risk?

Anyone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes may have retinopathy. The longer you have diabetes, the greater the risk. Risk is even higher if:

• Your blood sugar isn’t well controlled
• You have high blood pressure
• You have high cholesterol levels
• You are pregnant
• You use tobacco
• You are Black, Hispanic or Native American

 

Possible symptoms

Early retinopathy often has no symptoms. As the disease gets worse, you may begin to notice:

• Floating spots in your vision
• Blurred eyesight
• Changes in how you see color
• Blind spots in your vision
• Loss of vision

 

Treatment

The goal is to slow or stop the damage retinopathy causes. If the disease is found early, treatment may include careful control of blood sugar levels, changing your diet, being physically active every day, and following any other steps in your eye doctor’s treatment plan.

In later stages of retinopathy, other forms of treatment may be needed. These might include:

• LASER TREATMENT – to seal off leaky blood vessels and reduce the potential for new vessel growth.
• INTRAVITREAL INJECTIONS – to ease swelling and inflammation in the eye and control growth of new leaky blood vessels.

 

Diabetic Retinopathy

iabetes doesn’t play fair. It sneaks around, often harming the body for years without major symptoms.

“I grew up with diabetes,” says 55-year-old Jan. “I never thought much about side effects. I knew the disease could cause problems—but not for me!”

Then, at age 51, Jan had a comprehensive eye exam. “I found out I had retinopathy,” she says. “I was a heavy smoker at the time. I was told, ‘Unless you give up smoking you will go blind.’”

The news stunned Jan. It forced her to take action. “I gave up smoking. I also started watching what I ate. Today I still have retinopathy, but it’s under control,” she says.

 

What goes wrong?

Jan’s eye condition, diabetic retinopathy, is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness for adults. Here’s how it happens. Diabetes raises the level of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood. This injures small blood vessels in the retina—the light-sensitive inner lining of the eye that’s responsible for sight.

Eye Damage

Retinopathy injures tiny but important blood vessels in the back of the eye.

Blood vessels

• Leak and bleed
• Swell, block up and close
• Grow abnormally

DON’T LET DIABETES STEAL YOUR VISION