Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes, caused by high blood sugar levels damaging the retinal blood vessels. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when the tiny blood vessels, in the back of your eyes, leak blood and other fluids. This causes the retinal tissue to swell, resulting in cloudy or blurred vision. The condition usually affects both eyes. The longer a person has diabetes, the more likely it is that they will develop diabetic retinopathy. If left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can cause blindness.
It is estimated that one-third of people with diabetes have Diabetic Retinopathy. Over half of people with Diabetic Retinopathy don’t know that they have it, for this reason, it is essential that people with diabetes get screened regularly.
There are four main types of diabetic retinopathy, these are:
- Background retinopathy – this is stage one. Your eyesight isn’t affected yet, but you need to seek treatment to prevent the problem from getting worse.
- Non-proliferative retinopathy – stage two. The damage is more serious, and you’ll need to get your eyes screened more often to identify any changes.
- Proliferative retinopathy – stage three. There is now a high risk of losing your sight.
- Maculopathy – this is a different type of retinopathy that affects the middle of the eye, this may lead to you being unable to read or drive. You might hear this called M0 if there’s no maculopathy found in your eyes, or M1 if the fluid is starting to build-up in your eye and is affecting your sight.