Diabetic Eye Care

At Sacramento Eye Consultants, our professionals work especially close with patients with diabetic concerns. Diabetes Mellitus consists of degraded blood vessels all through the body, principally in the retina. Damage to retinal blood vessels is referred to as diabetic retinopathy.

There are two main kinds of diabetic retinopathy. The first is called 'background retinopathy' or "Nonproliferative retinopathy" and consists of permeable blood vessels and potential swelling of the retina, resulting in blurred vision. The second is called 'proliferative retinopathy' and is more progressive. In proliferative retinopathy, irregular blood vessels form that may cause concentrated blurry vision by bleeding, scarring, or retinal detachment.

​​​​​​​The longer a patient has diabetes, the higher the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. Roughly 80% of people who have diabetes for 15 years or more have some damage to their retinal vessels. This threat of developing diabetic retina problems is greatly reduced with good blood glucose control. Good supervision of the blood sugars entails a healthy diet, exercise as possible, and habitually using medication as prescribed, and attentive follow-up with the managing primary care or diabetic doctor. Solid communication between the eye doctor and your diabetic doctor is vital.