The risk of blindness is 25 times greater in diabetics than in non-diabetics. Diabetes mellitus mainly damages the tiny blood vessels of the retina. Early manifestation is damage to capillary endothelial cells, which causes loss of barrier function, exudation and edema; followed by capillary occlusion, producing a large number of microaneurysms, etc.; and even extensive retinal ischemia, inducing neovascularization; eventually complicating macular degeneration, vitreous hemosiderosis, tractional retinal detachment, neovascular glaucoma, etc., seriously affecting vision and even causing blindness. Currently, diabetic retinopathy has risen to become one of the most important causes of blindness, with 1/4 of the blind worldwide going blind from this disease. The development of diabetic retinopathy depends not only on the degree of metabolic disorders, but also on the type of diabetes, duration of disease, age of onset, genetic factors and control of diabetes. Data show that 25% of type 2 diabetics have diabetic retinopathy when it is first detected; 38%-39% of those with diabetes under 5 years old have retinal changes; 50%-56.7% of those with diabetes 5-10 years old; and 69%-90% of those with diabetes over 10 years old. Retinopathy occurs in more than 80% of diabetic patients with poor blood glucose control after 20 years, while only about 10% of patients with good blood glucose control develop retinopathy. Currently, there is no specific drug treatment for diabetic retinopathy. Laser photocoagulation is useful to prevent neovascularization and further macular damage, while once vitreous blood accumulation and tractional retinal detachment occur, only vitrectomy and retinal detachment repositioning surgery can be used, which usually has a poor prognosis. Therefore, early detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy is particularly important. Due to the lack of understanding and awareness of diabetes and its eye complications, people often go to the hospital only when their vision has declined to a significant degree, affecting their normal work and life, resulting in a delay in valuable treatment. In addition, many elderly patients usually treat vision loss as a manifestation of cataract, not realizing that it is the result of fundus disease. Cataracts can be cured by surgery, but once diabetic retinopathy has developed to the middle or late stage, it is difficult to achieve significant results even with the most advanced medical technology if the opportunity for treatment is missed. After being diagnosed with diabetes, even if your vision is 1.0, you should go to a regular hospital for an eye examination to find out if diabetic retinopathy has occurred. It is generally recommended that the fundus be examined once a year with dilated pupils; those who have had the disease for more than 5 years should be examined every 6 months, and if necessary, fundus fluorescence angiography should be performed; if lesions have already appeared, they need to be examined once every 1-2 months. Once the disease progresses, it must receive immediate treatment.