Symptoms

Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy

There may be no symptoms or pain in the early stages of the diabetic retinopathy, and vision may not change until the disease progresses and vision loss becomes evident.

A condition called macular edema may occur when the macula, a part of the retina, swells from the leaking fluid and causes blurred vision. When new vessels grow on the surface of the retina, they can hemorrhage (bleed) into the eye, which may decrease vision.