Diabetic retinopathy damages retinal blood vessels, leading to numerous symptoms. These may include floaters (dark strings or spots in your line of vision), blurred vision and reduced peripheral (side) vision.

Take steps to lower the risk of vision loss by scheduling regular dilated eye exams with an ophthalmologist, who will then monitor diabetes-related retinopathy progression.

1. Swelling of the Macula

The retina is a delicate layer of light-sensitive nerve tissue located inside your eyeball. It receives light rays, converts them to electrical signals, and sends these to the brain where they’re interpreted as visual images. A small area near the center of this retina known as the macula provides sharp central vision required for reading, sewing and recognising faces; any leakage of fluid into it due to damaged blood vessels in your retina causes macular edema or degeneration resulting in macular degeneration affecting central vision needs such as reading, sewing or recognising faces.

High levels of blood glucose can damage the delicate blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the retina, leaving leaky or closed vessels without enough nourishment for its proper functioning. As a result, your macula becomes waterlogged due to fluid buildup, distorting central vision. This condition is known as diabetic macular edema or macular deterioration.

In some instances, retinal blood vessels can close so completely that parts of the retina no longer receive normal blood flow. To replenish this area with blood, the eye grows new retinal blood vessels (neovascularization). Unfortunately, these new blood vessels often exhibit abnormalities which cause bleeding into the eye or further complications such as neovascular glaucoma or proliferative retinopathy.

Your eye doctor will use various tests to identify any issues with your retinal blood vessels, including dilation drops that will dilate your pupil so they can more clearly see inside of your eye. Furthermore, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan produces detailed images of your retina that enable them to observe retinal blood vessels as well as measure macula thickness.

2. Abnormal Blood Vessels

At its root, diabetic retinopathy affects retinal blood vessels which become damaged and lead to tiny areas of swelling on the retina. When this happens, new blood vessels form as the body attempts to provide nourishment; unfortunately these new blood vessels tend to be fragile and leak blood, creating small spots of bleeding on either the retina itself or on its surrounding clear gel (vitreous) known as telangiectasias that appear red or purple in people with lighter skin tone, while appearing brown or black for those with darker complexions.

Though these spots do not interfere with vision directly, they can cause more serious problems if they grow large or bleed heavily. Such symptoms could signal proliferative retinopathy – more serious than nonproliferative retinopathy and potentially leading to detached retina. It’s vitally important for anyone living with diabetes to undergo a diabetic retinopathy examination so their doctor can detect any bleeding or damage and treat it before it causes more permanent vision loss.

Leakage from blood vessels can also cause scar tissue to form on the retina, leading to issues with both peripheral and central vision. Sometimes the scar tissue causes macula detachment from retinal surface leading to blurry or distorted vision with floating spots or strings appearing within your field of vision and difficulties with night vision.

Even when symptoms do not arise, annual eye examinations should still be scheduled at least every year after diabetes has been diagnosed – particularly within five years of initial diagnosis and thereafter every year thereafter.

3. Loss of Central Vision

Diabetic retinopathy progresses when blood vessels that nutritively support the retina (light-sensitive lining at the back of the eye where vision is focused) become weak, possibly leaking or swelling or even branching off and leading to bleeding in the eye, starving it of essential nutrients and ultimately leading to central vision impairment – that sharpest part allowing us to see objects directly ahead.

Central vision refers to the area in your field of vision that allows you to read, drive and recognize faces; additionally it can enable you to notice intricate details while performing activities such as cooking or gardening.

. If your central vision is being impaired by macular edema, your healthcare provider may use fluorescein angiography to pinpoint where fluid leakage from retinal blood vessels occurs. The procedure involves placing drops into each eye which make blood vessels appear fluorescent – then taking photographs to spot where any fluid escapes.

Diabetes can also result in macular degeneration, which affects central vision by dismantling the macula – the small area at the center of retina responsible for clear central vision. Macular degeneration may progress slowly over time without abnormal blood vessels growing abnormally or wet forms with new blood vessel growth, both being known to affect central vision loss.

If you suspect you’re experiencing symptoms of diabetic retinopathy, make an appointment with an eye care provider as soon as possible to reduce the risk of losing sight. Your physician can treat diabetic retinopathy while also screening you for other eye-related problems like glaucoma and cataracts.

4. Loss of Peripheral Vision

Diabetics at risk of diabetic retinopathy often don’t notice their vision changing until late into their disease and considerable damage has already taken place, which is why regular eye exams for all people living with diabetes, at minimum once annually and more often if recommended by your eye care provider, are essential in order to detect signs of retinopathy early and help protect vision from being lost.

Diabetes-induced diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a serious complication that affects the retina by breaking blood vessels that nourish it, leading to macular edema (swelling). Over time, the disease progresses further into proliferative retinopathy in which new fragile blood vessels grow both on the retina and vitreous at the back of your eye and form scar tissue that distorts vision or detaches it entirely – leading ultimately to blindness if left untreated.

Tunnel vision, or the inability to see anything outside the circle of your central vision, can be caused by various causes such as glaucoma, eye injuries or diseases, systemic illnesses like high cholesterol or sickle cell anemia as well as migraines or giant cell arteritis.

Early diagnosis can provide many advantages; laser treatment can seal off leaky blood vessels and reduce macular edema. Your eye doctor may use fluorescein angiography, in which dye is injected into the eye that highlights blood vessels while pictures are taken using special cameras; additionally Optical coherence tomography uses light waves to produce detailed images of your retina without dilation of pupils.

5. Blurred Vision

Blurred vision is an early telltale of many eye diseases, occurring when light is misdirected onto your retina. This may occur as a result of age or due to health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes or inflammatory disease; alternatively it could be an indicator of more serious conditions like retinal detachment or bleeding within the eye.

Blurred vision can be caused by many things, including infection, cataracts or head trauma; sometimes it can even signal stroke or heart attack symptoms. In most cases, however, correcting blurred vision requires either glasses or surgery – these treatments usually allow the vision to return as usual after recovery.

If your blurred vision is caused by disease or injury, your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms and perform a physical examination. Additional tests you may require include visual acuity test, tonometry and ophthalmoscopy; fluorescein angiography utilizes dye and special cameras to reveal blood vessels in your retina while optical coherence tomography takes pictures of both retina and optic nerve using light waves.

One of the leading causes of blurred vision is diabetic retinopathy, an eye complication related to diabetes that damages blood vessels that nourish your retina – the light-sensitive lining at the back of your eye. Damaged blood vessels may leak or swell, causing vision loss. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), another form of diabetic retinopathy, involves new fragile blood vessels growing on either surface of retina or into vitreous body of your eye where gel substance fills that space between front of your eye and retina – these new vessels bleed easily and sudden loss of vision may result from macula infection of macular area quickly and severely.