Diabetic Eye Disease: Protecting Your Vision

How Diabetes Affects the Eye

Diabetes affects the blood vessels throughout your body — and the eye is one of the most sensitive places. Over time, high blood sugar can damage the delicate vessels in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. This is called diabetic retinopathy, and it's one of the leading causes of avoidable vision loss in working-age adults.

Damaged vessels may leak fluid or blood into the retina, swell the part of the eye that gives you sharp central vision (the macula), or even grow new, fragile vessels that bleed suddenly. All of these can steal your sight.

Who Should Be Screened?

• Anyone with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes
• People with high blood pressure or high cholesterol alongside diabetes
• Pregnant women with diabetes (gestational or pre-existing)

As a general rule, people with diabetes should have a dilated eye examination every year. If changes are found, your specialist may recommend more frequent checks.

What Happens During a Diabetic Eye Check?

It's a comfortable, non-invasive examination. After checking your vision and eye pressure, we look at the retina and optic nerve in fine detail — often with photographs of the back of your eye so changes can be compared year to year.

Staying Ahead of the Damage

You can do a lot to protect your eyes if you live with diabetes:

• Keep blood sugar stable — your target range matters more than any eye treatment
• Control blood pressure and cholesterol
• Book your annual dilated eye check without fail
• Don't wait for symptoms — tell your doctor if you notice spots, shadows, blurring or sudden changes

When diabetic retinopathy is caught early, treatments — including laser and injections — are far more effective at saving sight.