diabetic retinopathy Diabetic Retinopathy When diabetes is uncontrolled, chronic high blood sugar levels can damage the blood vessels that feed the retina of the eye.  In nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, an early stage of this diabetic eye disease, the blood vessels may leak fluid. This may cause the retina to swell and vision to blur, a condition called diabetic macular edema. In what's known as advanced or proliferative diabetic retinopathy, abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina.  The abnormal blood vessels do not provide the retina with regular blood flow.  In addition, the bloos vessels may  pull on the retina and cause detachment. Diabetic Retinopathy Causes Blindness Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in the United States.  It accounts for about 8,000 new cases each year.  It's the most common and serious threat to vision that people with diabetes face. Nearly half of all people with diabetes eventually develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy.  It usually occurs in both eyes.  There may be no early signs of the disease.  More advanced cases may be signaled by floaters, blurred vision, eye pain, or gradual vision loss. Experts say the rate of diabetic retinopathy is likely to grow because the number of people with diabetes is increasing.  About 16 million people have diabetes and many don't know it.  In one recent study of Mexican-Americans over age 40, twenty three percent of those who didn't know they had diabetes also had early to moderate diabetic retinopathy. Risk Factors Uncontrolled diabetes is the prime risk factor for retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy can usually be managed with a combination of tight blood sugar control, appropriate exercise and diet, and early detection.  People who are diagnosed with diabetes before age 30 should begin having dilated eye exams every year beginning five years after diagnosis. All others with diabetes should have an eye exam every year.  A study in the AAO journal of Ophthalmology showed that more than one-third of Americans with diabetes don't get a yearly dilated exam, putting them at risk for vision loss. Treatment - Laser Eye Surgery Some cases of diabetic retinopathy can be treated with laser eye surgery that aims a strong beam of light onto the retina to shrink or seal leaking or abnormal vessels. But it can't restore vision already lost, which is why early detection is so key. In some advanced cases of, a vitrectomy is recommended, in which the surgeon removes the vitreous portion of the eye and replaces it with a clear solution. If laser eye surgery is done early enough, the diabetic retinopathy can be stopped or slowed.  Hundreds of people with diabetes visit their eye doctors as frequently as every four to five months.  That level of diabetic retinopathy can be followed closely by your eye doctor. If a person has minimal eye disease then the follow-up is less frequent.  There are some people who have had diabetes for over 20 years with no effect on the eye. It can be done, but early diagnosis and treatment is the determining factor in diabetic retinopathy.