Dr. Rohit Adyanthaya, a retinal specialist, warns that diabetic retinopathy often progresses silently without pain, making annual dilated eye exams essential for all diabetes patients regardless of symptom presence.
Modern medical interventions, including targeted ocular injections and laser therapies, are highly effective at sealing leaking vessels and can often restore lost vision if the disease is detected early.
The specialist debunked the myth that laser treatment causes blindness, noting that untreated retinopathy poses a significantly higher risk of permanent vision loss for patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.