What is diabetic retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes and uncontrolled blood sugar levels. It causes damage to blood vessels in light-sensitive parts of your retina, or the back of your eye.
In its early stage, diabetic retinopathy doesn’t have symptoms or causes mild vision issues, but if it’s left untreated, the disease can lead to blindness. That’s why routine eye exams and retinopathy screenings are important when you have diabetes.
What are the symptoms of diabetic retinopathy?
While diabetic retinopathy might not have symptoms right away, over time, it can lead to:
- Blurry vision
- Fluctuating vision
- Eye floaters or dark strings
- Vision loss
- Dark spots in your vision
- Reduced color vision
If you’re at risk of diabetic retinopathy, see Dr. Abadeer and her team for routine eye exams, even if you don’t experience symptoms.
What are the risk factors of diabetic retinopathy?
If you have diabetes, your risk of developing diabetic retinopathy increases. Common risk factors include:
- Pregnancy
- Poor blood sugar control
- Having diabetes for a long time
- Using tobacco products
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
Complications associated with diabetic retinopathy include a higher risk of retinal detachment, glaucoma, vitreous hemorrhage, and blindness. Ways to reduce your risk include controlling your blood sugar and getting routine eye screenings.
How is diabetic retinopathy diagnosed?
To diagnose diabetic retinopathy and develop a treatment plan, Dr. Abadeer completes a comprehensive dilated eye exam. She puts special drops in your eyes to dilate your pupils and get a better view of the outside and inside of your eyes.
She looks for abnormal blood vessels, swelling, bleeding, fatty deposits, scar tissue, retinal detachment, and optic nerve abnormalities. Dr. Abadeer also tests your vision, measures eye pressure, and looks for signs of cataracts.
During a fundus fluorescein angiogram, she takes pictures of the inside of your eyes after injecting a dye into your bloodstream. Dr. Abadeer might use optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging to produce cross-sectional images of your retina.
How is diabetic retinopathy treated?
Your personalized diabetic retinopathy treatment depends on how advanced the disease is. Dr. Abadeer might simply monitor the disease if it’s in an early stage and encourage tight blood sugar control. She can also correct vision problems you might encounter.
If diabetic retinopathy is more advanced, you might require:
- Injections: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor eye injections
- Vitrectomy: surgical removal of the vitreous gel from your retina
- Panretinal photocoagulation: laser treatment that shrinks abnormal blood vessels
- Photocoagulation: laser treatment that slows or stops leaking fluid in the eye
Dr. Abadeer tailors each treatment to your needs to help save your vision and optimize your quality of life with diabetes.
If you’re at risk of or exhibit signs of diabetic retinopathy, book an eye exam with Logos Vision by phone or online today.
