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Diabetic retinopathy is a condition related to diabetes, and it affects the small blood vessels in the retina. Without diabetic retinopathy treatment, the disease can lead to other eye conditions and even blindness. However, vision loss can be prevented if the disease is diagnosed and treated early enough.
Let us help you schedule an appointment with a board-certified ophthalmologist.
In the early, nonproliferative stages of the condition, you will not need any diabetic retinopathy treatments unless you have macular edema. However, you can help prevent diabetic retinopathy from progressing to the proliferative stage by controlling your:
Henry Ford offers several diabetic retinopathy treatments for patients who have progressed to the proliferative stage of the disease. No diabetic retinopathy treatments will cure the condition, but they can reduce the impact on your vision and overall eye health. In addition, with proliferative retinopathy, there is always a risk of more bleeding, and therefore the need for additional treatments.
Patients may undergo one of two types of diabetic retinopathy treatments with a laser:
Both are painless procedures since the retina does not contain nerve endings.
Before undergoing laser treatment, your Henry Ford ophthalmologist may recommend anti-VEGF injection therapy. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a protein that promotes the growth of new blood vessels. With anti-VEGF intraocular injections, a special drug is injected into the vitreous – the clear fluid that fills the center of the eye – near the retina. The drug blocks growth signals of new blood vessels. Anti-VEGF therapy is also used to treat macular degeneration.
If you have a lot of blood in your vitreous, you may need to have a vitrectomy, which replaces the clear fluid in your eye with a sterile salt solution. During this procedure:
The Henry Ford Department of Ophthalmology is committed to providing our patients with compassionate, personalized care. We feature the most advanced treatments in eye care and are dedicated to vision research – always staying at the forefront of innovation. A leader in Michigan, as well as one of the largest ophthalmology practices in the United States, we treat more than 55,000 patients per year at 12 locations throughout southeast Michigan. In addition, our team works closely with Henry Ford Medical Group physicians in other departments, providing multidisciplinary, coordinated care for those patients who need it.
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