Diabetic retinopathy
What is it?
Many people in the UK have diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is the most common complication of diabetes and may develop in anyone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Approximately 95,000 people in the UK are affected.
Sight loss in diabetic retinopathy is a result of changes in the retina caused by high blood sugar. Over time, it damages the blood vessels that provide nutrition and oxygen to the retina. Within 20 years of diagnosis nearly everyone with type 1 diabetes and two-thirds of people with type 2 diabetes will have some degree of diabetic retinopathy. A recent study has also found that people with diabetes are at double the risk of developing cataract.
Diabetic retinopathy can progress without any symptoms, only noticeable at the later stages of the condition. Some symptoms can include the appearance of “floating” spots, blurred vision and eye pain. Left undiagnosed and untreated, diabetic retinopathy can lead to blindness.
Find out more about the cause and symptoms
Treatment
Controlling diabetes reduces the chance of developing diabetic retinopathy. In the early stages diabetic retinopathy needs regular monitoring. If the condition worsens then treatment from laser surgery or eye injections with anti-VEGF medication could be the next step.
Research
Fight for Sight has funded a number of research. A research project led by Dr Jose Manuel Romero at Queens University Belfast, is furthering our understanding of the mechanics of diabetic retinopathy. This project aims to find out more about how diabetes affects the turnover of mitochondria cells in the retina and whether treatment to get the process working again can slow or stop sight loss.
Dr Romero said: “Research is essential to have a better understanding of how diabetes leads to retina and eye damage, so that we can develop novel, effective and safe therapies for this devastating visual disorder.”
Read more about Dr Romero’s research
Kevin’s story
Kevin Bradley from Leeds was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 12. Kevin was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy in 2015, aged 29.
Kevin describes how diabetic retinopathy affects his sight: “I’ve previously had a permanent blind spot in my left eye, at about 10 o’clock, just off-centre. After two weeks it was still there and I thought, ‘That’s it – it’s going to be there forever’, but a week later it had gone. They come and go. Colour-wise, a blind spot is grey. You know when you close your eyes, and look through your eyelids? That’s the kind of colour it is.”
How Kevin’s blind spots affect his sight
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