Diabetic Retinopathy
Long-term diabetes damages the fragile vessels that feed the retina.
Diabetes is, among many other things, a disease of small blood vessels — and nowhere in the body are the vessels easier to see than on the retina. That makes the eye exam one of the most useful checkpoints we have for how well diabetes is being managed elsewhere.
What we look for.
Tiny dot-shaped haemorrhages, leaking pinpoints of fluid, fragile new vessels growing in places they don't belong. None of these are visible to you — they show up in dilated retinal photos long before central vision is affected. That's why the recommendation is an exam every year, even when your sugar control feels fine.
How we treat it.
Most early disease just needs tighter sugar and blood-pressure control. As it progresses, focused laser treatments and the same injections used in wet macular degeneration calm the abnormal vessels down. The patients who do best are the ones who get diagnosed long before any blur ever reaches the chart.
