The National Eye Institute estimates that between 40 and 45% of Americans with diagnosed diabetes have some degree of diabetic retinopathy, a disorder in which the retina of the eye is damaged or destroyed, leading to vision loss. It is more common in people with type 1 diabetes than type 2, and also increases in incidence the longer one has had diabetes. More than half of patients who take insulin and have had type 2 diabetes for 20 years or more have some degree of diabetic retinopathy.

Laser surgery, also called photocoagulation, is used to successfully treat even the advanced form, proliferative retinopathy. A laser beam is used to make hundreds of small burns over the surface of the retina that destroy the over-growing blood vessels. For the disorder's later stages, when blood vessels have hemorrhaged into the eye, a surgical procedure called “vitrectomy” is performed - the clouded gel is removed from the center of the eyeball and replaced with a clear fluid.

With these treatments, even people with advanced diabetic eye disease have a 90% chance of maintaining their vision. That's why it is so important to have regular eye exams. It's also important to keep blood sugar levels under control, since it has been shown that doing so slows the onset and progression of retinopathy.

Sources:

• NIDDK. Prevent diabetes problems: Keep your eyes healthy. May 2000.
• National Eye Institute. Facts about diabetic eye disease. June 2000.