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Macular Degeneration     Diabetic Retinopathy     Retinal Detachment     Uveitis  

        

Diabetes is a systemic disease that affects the whole body. Your eyes are not immune to these problems. The increased blood sugar causes damage to the retinal blood vessels. These blood vessels usually do not leak, however, with diabetes, the vessels become leaky and cause damage to the retina. This is known as Diabetic Retinopathy. There are 2 main types of diabetic retinopathy- background diabetic retinopathy (BDR) and proliferative background diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

BDR occurs when the blood vessels leak their blood or fluid which causes the retina to swell. This can be seen in an eye exam as either small hemorrhages or exudates. BDR, by itself, is not an indication for treatment. It is an early sign that Diabetes is starting to affect the eyes. Sometimes, the retinal swelling that is associated with BDR affects the vision. It is at this point that treatment is necessary to prevent vision loss. Typically, this involves laser treatment to decrease the swelling and is an office procedure. Treatment can be performed multiple times as the swelling occurs.

PDR occurs when new blood vessels begin to grow on the surface of the retina. This is a sign of advanced Diabetes and indicates that the retina is not getting enough blood. In response, the body generates new vessels to help bring in blood, however, these new vessels are not as good as the original blood vessels and tend to cause more damage to the retina and the eye; including fibrous tissue growth (scar tissue), vitreous hemorrhages, retinal detachments and neovascular glaumoma which cause significant loss of vision. The treatment for PDR is heavy laser treatment throughout the entire retina (except the macular area). This helps decrease the stimulus for new blood vessel growth by decreasing the need for increased blood supply.

Laser treatments are not a cure for Diabetic Retinopathy. It is done to help prevent significant vision loss, however, some vision loss is always expected. The best treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy is a yearly dilated eye exam that checks for any retinal changes associated with diabetes.