Diabetics are prone to eye disease that can lead to blindness. These diseases include:

• Glaucoma: pressure in the eye that leads to optic nerve damage;
  
  
• Cataracts: clouding of the eye's lens; and,
  
  
• Retinopathy: damage to the blood vessels in the retina.

Retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease and is a leading cause of blindness in American adults. Nearly half of all people with diabetes will develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy during their lifetime. Often there are no symptoms or pain in the early stages of the disease. Regular retinal exams may be the only way to detect the disease before vision loss occurs. Early detection and treatment of the disease can decrease the risk of blindness by as much as 45%.

A diabetic retinal exam checks the eyes for the disease retinopathy. For the exam, the patient's eyes are dilated (the pupils are made bigger) through the use of eye drops. This allows the eye care professional to see the interior of the eyes when checking for signs of the disease.