Ophthalmology Group

Office Hours:

​8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. M-F

Office Phone: (501) 224-4701

Office Fax: (501) 224-1003​

Optical Line: (501) 224-4359

Office and Optical Hours:

Monday - Friday: 8am-5pm

Closed 11:30am - 12:30pm

Office Phone: (501) 224-4701

Office Fax: (501) 224-1003​

Optical Line: (501) 224-4359

Diabetes, especially after prolonged duration, may produce diabetic retinopathy in some patients. This is a serious and potentially blinding eye condition. Diabetic retinopathy is the number one cause of legal blindness in the country for patients under 65.

Diabetes affects the part of the eye called the retina. The retina is nerve tissue that lines the back of the eye. Visual images are formed on the retina much like on the film in a camera. Diabetes damages the retina by affecting its blood vessels. Some blood vessels become plugged, while others leak fluid. Blurring of vision may be cause by fluid accumulating, producing a thickening of the retina called 

macular edema. Sometimes, abnormal blood vessels grow along the surface of the retina and into the vitreous (the clear gel that fills the eye). Bleeding into the eye (vitreous hemorrhage) from these newly formed blood vessels and scarring or detachment of the retina are the main ways that diabetes causes severe impairment of vision. Regular eye examinations and appropriate laser therapy have been shown to prevent visual loss in many cases. Laser treatment reduces the risk of blindness with certain stages of diabetic retinaopathy.

Diabetic patients shouls have periodic eye examinations by an ophthalmologist, at least once a year. The best prevention for keeping diabetic eye disease from progressing is maintaining blood sugar levels consistently within the range set by the physician maintaining the diabetes.

Macular Edema

Diabetic Eye Disease

Severe Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

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