Diabetic Eye Problems (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Diabetic retinopathy

Do you know what causes the most blindness in U.S. adults? It is an eye problem caused by diabetes, called diabetic retinopathy. Your retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eye. You need a healthy retina to see clearly.

Diabetic retinopathy happens when diabetes damages the tiny blood vessels inside your retina. You may not notice at first. Symptoms can include

Blurry or double vision
Rings, flashing lights or blank spots
Dark or floating spots
Pain or pressure in one or both of your eyes
Trouble seeing things out of the corners of your eyes

If you have diabetes, you should have a complete eye exam every year. Finding and treating problems early may save your vision. Treatment often includes laser treatment or surgery.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Start Here

Diabetes - Eye Complications(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/diabeteseyecomplications/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/diabeteseyecomplicationsspanish/htm/index.htm
Diabetic Retinopathy(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/retinopatia.asp
Prevent Diabetes Problems: Keep Your Eyes Healthy(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/complications_eyes/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/spanish/pubs/complications_eyes/index.htm

Overviews

Diabetic Retinopathy(Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology) - http://www.eyecareamerica.org/eyecare/conditions/diabetic-retinopathy/index.cfm
Eye Complications(American Diabetes Association) - http://www.diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/eye-complications.jsp
Also available in Spanish http://www.diabetes.org/espanol/todo-sobre-la-diabetes/complicaciones-vista.jsp

Latest News

Drug May Not Help Diabetes-Related Eye Damage(04/17/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83009.html
Certain Diabetes Drugs May Pose Eye Risk(04/07/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_82630.html

Prevention/Screening

Diabetes EyeCare Program(Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology) - http://www.eyecareamerica.org/eyecare/care/diabetes-eyecare.cfm
Eye Exams: What to Expect(Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology) - http://www.eyecareamerica.org/eyecare/treatment/eye-exams.cfm
Prevent Diabetes Problems: Keep Your Eyes Healthy(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/complications_eyes/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/spanish/pubs/complications_eyes/index.htm
Take Charge of Your Diabetes: Eye Problems(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/tcyd/eye.htm

Related Issues

Checklist for Your Eye Doctor Appointment(Prevent Blindness America) - http://www.preventblindness.org/eye_problems/doc_checklist.html
Talking to Your Doctor(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/talktodoc.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/oculista.asp

Pictures & Photographs

Eye Disease Simulations(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/examples/index.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/examples/index_spanish.asp

Health Check Tools

Diabetic Eye Disease: How Much Do You Know?(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/ded_quiz/index.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/ded_sp_quiz/index.asp

Tutorials

Diabetes - Eye Complications(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/diabeteseyecomplications/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/diabeteseyecomplicationsspanish/htm/index.htm
Diabetic Retinopathy(National Eye Institute) - http://nihseniorhealth.gov/diabeticretinopathy/toc.html

Videos

Diabetic Retinopathy(Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology) - http://www.eyecareamerica.org/eyecare/conditions/diabetic-retinopathy/video.cfm
Diabetic Vitrectomy Surgery(OR-Live) - One hour program - 09/20/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/shm_1889/rnh.cfm?id=543

Anatomy/Physiology

Diagram of the Eye(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/eyediagram/
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/diagrama_ojo.asp

Financial Issues

Financial Aid for Eye Care(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/financialaid.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/financialaid_sp.asp
Financial Help for Diabetes Care(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/financialhelp/

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Diabetic Retinopathy(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Diabetic+Retinopathy%22

Research

Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and Follow-up Study(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/control/
Eye Disease(American Diabetes Association) - Current medical research reports - http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-research/summaries/eyedisease.jsp

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup T is associated with coronary artery disease... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19383124&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Effect of calcium dobesilate on occurrence of diabetic macular oedema... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19376452&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Prevention of diabetic retinopathy. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19376433&tool=MedlinePlus
Diabetic Eye Problems -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=diabetic+retinopathy[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Diabetes Dictionary(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/dictionary/
Also available in Spanish http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/spanish/pubs/dictionary/index.htm

Directories

Directory of Diabetes Organizations(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/resources/organizations.htm
Eye Health Organizations Database(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/resourceSearch.asp
Find an Eye M.D.(American Academy of Ophthalmology) - http://www.aao.org/aao/eyemd_disclaimer.cfm
Find Services for People with Vision Loss(American Foundation for the Blind) - http://www.afb.org/services.asp
Finding an Eye Care Professional(National Eye Institute) - http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/findprofessional.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/findpro_sp.asp

Organizations

American Diabetes Association - http://www.diabetes.org/
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/
National Eye Institute - http://www.nei.nih.gov/
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - http://www.niddk.nih.gov/

Statistics

Number (in Millions) of Visually Impaired Adults with Diabetes, United States, 1997-2005(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/visual/fig1.htm

Seniors

Diabetic Retinopathy(National Eye Institute) - http://nihseniorhealth.gov/diabeticretinopathy/toc.html

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Diabetes - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabetes.html
Diabetes Complications - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabetescomplications.html
Vision Impairment and Blindness - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/visionimpairmentandblindness.html
Eyes and Vision - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/eyesandvision.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Diabetic Eye Problems is the National Eye Institute - http://www.nei.nih.gov/

Diabetic Eye Problems - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/diabeticeyeproblems.html