Diabetes is a disease in which the body has high levels of sugar in the blood. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas can’t create enough of the hormone called insulin to control blood sugar levels. In Type 1 diabetes, which occurs mainly in childhood or early adolescence, the pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin at all and daily insulin injections are required to maintain proper health. Type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes, can usually be controlled by diet and exercise although Type 2 diabetics may eventually require insulin as well. Over time, high sugar levels caused by diabetes can damage the retina, the nerve layer on the back of the eye that senses light and transmits impulses through the optic nerve to the brain. Risk factors which contribute to the onset of diabetic retinopathy include high blood pressure, pregnancy, kidney disease, high cholesterol, and smoking. Family history with diabetes and genetics can also be a factor. Typically, the longer a person has diabetes, the more likely diabetic retinopathy can occur.

Early symptoms of diabetic retinopathy can go unnoticed because it has few or no symptoms. Early indicators include tiny hemorrhages on the back of the eye, and accumulation of fat products, or “exudates”, leaking from blood vessels in the back of the eye, which can also cause swelling and create pressure. If these minute leaks occur near the macula, they can accumulate and obstruct vision, leading to macular edema.