Diabetic Retinopathy

Nearly one-third of people with diabetes develop diabetic retinopathy, a serious condition that increases the risk of vision loss. At Fremont Eye Center, board-certified ophthalmologist and eye surgeon Ho Sun Choi, MD, specializes in diagnosing and treating diabetic retinopathy. If you have diabetes, regular diabetic eye care can help lower your risk of this outcome and provide peace of mind. If you’re concerned about diabetic retinopathy, make an appointment by calling the Fremont, California, office today or by clicking the online booking feature.

What is diabetic retinopathy?

Diabetic retinopathy is a serious complication of diabetes that damages the retina, a light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of your eye.

Anyone with diabetes can experience diabetic retinopathy, but it most commonly affects people whose blood sugar isn’t under control.

What are the symptoms of diabetic retinopathy? 

Diabetic retinopathy tends to develop slowly, so it doesn’t always cause symptoms at first. As the condition progresses, you may experience:

• Floaters in your field of vision
• Blurred vision
• Changes in your vision
• Dark or empty spots in your field of vision
• Vision loss

Because the condition affects everyone differently, the best way to protect your vision is with diabetic eye care. For example, annual dilated eye exams can assess your retina’s health and help detect diabetic retinopathy early. 

How is diabetic retinopathy diagnosed?

Dr. Choi diagnoses diabetic retinopathy by completing a dilated eye exam. 

A dilated eye exam uses special eye drops to widen your pupils, allowing him to take a closer look at the structures at the back of your eyes, including the retina and macula. 

Depending on your age and symptoms, Dr. Choi may also complete additional tests, such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescein angiography.

OCT is an imaging procedure that takes cross-sectional photos of your retina to determine its anatomy and thickness. Fluorescein angiography is another imaging procedure that lets Dr. Choi identify blood vessels in your eye that may be leaking and increasing the risk of retinal damage.

How is diabetic retinopathy treated?

Treatment for diabetic retinopathy depends on its severity and effect on your quality of life. 

If Dr. Choi identifies the condition early on, he may recommend a watch-and-wait approach. For instance, keeping your blood sugar within a healthy range can slow progression..

If you have advanced diabetic retinopathy, Dr. Choi makes personalized treatment recommendations. He may suggest:

• Eye injections
• Laser therapy
• Vitrectomy, a type of surgery that removes the vitreous gel from the center of your eye to treat retinal damage

There’s no cure for diabetic retinopathy, but these procedures can help keep the condition from worsening. 

To explore treatment options for diabetic retinopathy, make an appointment at Fremont Eye Center today by calling the office or by clicking the online booking feature.