Retinopathy Stages

Stages of diabetic retinopathy

• Mild non proliferative retinopathy, it is an earliest stage of retinopathy. A small balloon-like swelling occurs in the retina's tiny blood vessels.
• Moderate nonproliferative retinopathy, disease progresses some of the blood vessels that nourishes the retinas are blocked.
• Severe nonproliferative retinopathy, disease progresses further and many more blood vessels are blocked, and several areas of the retina are out of normal blood supply. Due to this short supply of blood the retina send signals to grow new blood vessels for nourishment.
• Proliferative retinopathy, at its advanced stage, the retina signals trigger the growth of new blood vessels, these new grown blood vessels are abnormal and fragile called proliferative retinopathy. They grow along the surface of the clear, vitreous gel that fills the inside of the eye. These do not cause any symptoms, however they have thin, fragile walls, and if they leak blood a severe vision loss or even blindness can result.