Diabetic retinopathy is a disease caused by changes in the vascular circulatory system in the eyes of diabetics. It can make the small blood vessels in the retina vulnerable and prone to bleeding, which can be divided into several stages according to their severity, and in severe cases may eventually lead to complete blindness.

The longer diabetes lasts, the greater the chance of retinopathy. In general, the risk of retinopathy increases after 10 years of diabetes. Retinopathy can be triggered by either juvenile or adult-onset diabetes. Even patients with mild diabetes and good blood sugar control still go blind due to retinopathy. This happens in about one in twenty patients.

Proper medication is the way to avoid retinopathy, but it cannot restore lost vision. If some dangerous signs appear, such as gradual loss of vision and black spots floating in front of the eyes, retinopathy has already progressed to a certain degree of severity. Therefore, in addition to regular examinations by a diabetes physician, diabetic patients should also consult with an ophthalmologist, who decides how often a follow-up should be required.

The more serious case is hemorrhagic lesions. There are two methods of treatment: one is laser photocoagulation and the other applies to more severe injuries, where the bleeding accumulated in the eyes for a prolonged period of time is removed surgically (vitrectomy), so that light can reach the retina's light sensitive tissue unimpeded.