There are usually no symptoms of background retinopathy, although blurring of vision may occur if macular edema is present. You may never notice changes in your vision. A medical examination is the only way to find changes inside your eye.

When bleeding occurs, your sight may become hazy, spotty or even disappear altogether. While there is no pain, proliferative retinopathy is a severe form of the disease and requires immediate medical attention. Pregnancy and high blood pressure may aggravate diabetic retinopathy.

How is Diabetic Retinopathy Diagnosed?

The best protection against diabetic retinopathy is to have regular medical eye examinations by your ophthalmologist. Serious retinopathy can be present without any symptoms. The disease can improve with treatment.

To find diabetic retinopathy, the ophthalmologist looks at the inside of the eye using an instrument called an ophthalmoscope. The pupil may need to be dilated (enlarged) with eye drops.

If your ophthalmologist finds diabetic retinopathy, he or she may order colour photographs of the retina or a special test called fluorescein angiography to find out if you need treatment. Fluorescein angiography is a test where dye is injected in your arm and special photos of your eye are taken.