Stages of diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy develops in stages over time.

If you're diagnosed withdiabetic retinopathy after diabetic eye screening , lifestyle changes and/or treatment can reduce the chances of the problem progressing.

The main stages of diabetic retinopathy are described below. You wont necessarily experience all of these.

Stage one: background retinopathy

This means that tiny bulges (microaneurysms) haveappeared in the blood vessels in the back ofyour eyes (retina), whichmay leak small amounts of blood. This is very common in people with diabetes .

At this stage:

• your sight isn't affected, although you're at a higher risk of developing vision problems in the future
• you don't need treatment,but you'll need to take care to prevent the problem getting worse read more about preventing diabetic retinopathy
• the chances ofit progressing to the stages below within three years is over 25% if both of your eyes are affected

Stage two: pre-proliferative retinopathy

This means that more severe and widespread changes are seen in the retina, including bleeding into the retina.

At this stage:

• there's a high risk that your vision could eventually be affected
• you'll usually be advised to have more frequent screening appointments every three or six months to monitor your eyes

Stage three: proliferative retinopathy

This means that new blood vessels and scar tissue have formed on your retina, which can cause significant bleeding and lead to retinal detachment (where the retina pulls away from the back of the eye) .

At this stage:

• there's a very high risk you could lose your vision
• treatmentwill be offered to stabilise your vision as much as possible, although it won't be possible to restore anyvision you've lost

Diabetic maculopathy

In some cases, the blood vessels in the part of the eye called the macula (the central area of the retina) can also become leaky or blocked. This is known asdiabetic maculopathy.

If this is detected:

• there's a high risk that your vision could eventually be affected
• you may be advised to have more frequent specialised testing to monitor your eyes
• you may be referred toa hospital specialist to discuss treatments that can helpstop the problem getting worse

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