What causes diabetic retinopathy?

Answer 1

When new blood vessels are forced to grow in the eye due to excess sugar in your blood, these new blood vessels don’t grow properly leading to leakage and blockage in the retina leading to the blood supply being cut off. Further complication if diabetic retinopathy is not treated at an early stage could be permanent damage in the eye and even glaucoma.

There are 2 stages of Diabetic Retinopathy:

Early Diabetic Retinopathy

Early Diabetic Retinopathy, also known as Non Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (short from NPDR) occurs when the blood vessels in the retina weaken and new blood vessels are not proliferating or growing.

When you have Non Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy, fluid and blood sometimes leak into the retina from the walls of smaller vessels due to tine bulges causing larger vessels in the retina to dilate. This causes the diameter of the retina to become irregular. As more and more blood vessels begin to get blocked, Non Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy becomes more severe. Edema can sometimes build up in the macular (center) region of the retina as a result of damaged blood vessels, decreasing vision. The macular edema build up, if not treated can lead to blindness.

Advanced Diabetic Retinopathy

Also know as Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy, Advanced Diabetic Retinopathy is severe and occurs when the damaged blood vessels shut off, leading to new blood vessels that are abnormal to be formed in the retina which are fragile and can lead to leakage into the Vitreous (jelly like part in the center of the eye). This may lead to scar tissue which can detach the retina from the back of the eye or even increase the pressure on the eye as a result of interference of regular blood flow.

The optic nerve can be damaged due to the build up causing permanent damage in the eye and vision or even lead to Glaucoma.