Damage to your retina through diabetes is called ‘diabetic retinopathy’. It is important to remember that diabetic retinopathy is a process. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. The end point of diabetic retinopathy results in total loss of vision (or blindness). Fortunately the beginning part (and to some extent the middle part) can often be successfully treated or at least stopped from getting worse.
Unlike a movie screen (that is usually a piece of vinyl) your retina is a piece of living tissue. This means it needs a good blood supply to keep it healthy. If things go wrong with this blood supply it can damage pieces of the screen. If the damage is too bad the whole of the screen can be wiped out. This results in total blindness.
In diabetes it is mainly damage to the blood vessels in the retina that can cause problems. The blood vessels can become leaky, blocked, or too small to let through enough blood.
What can go wrong with my retina if I have diabetes?
