Diabetic retinopathy, or DR, is the most blinding retinal vascular disease in modern society and one of the major clinical manifestations of diabetic microcirculatory complications. Therefore, prevention and treatment of diabetic retinopathy is a clinical priority in ophthalmology. The pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy involves many disciplines, including biochemistry, ultrastructural changes, and blood abnormalities, and is centered on a series of changes that occur as a result of hyperglycemia and retinal tissue hypoxia, which are manifestations of diabetic microangiopathy in the unique environment of the fundus. Long-term chronic hyperglycemia is the basis of its pathogenesis and is influenced by systemic metabolic, endocrine, and hematological factors. It is now recognized that low physical activity, obesity, and overnutrition are the determinants of type II diabetes. The incidence of DR varies with the course of diabetes, with the incidence of retinopathy being about 25% after 5 years of onset, increasing to 60% after 10 years, and up to 75%-80% after 15 years. At present, the prevalence of DR is 65% in poorly controlled patients, 29% in better controlled patients, and 100% in patients with diabetes mellitus with a duration of more than 10 years, 62% of whom have stage III or higher lesions; 16% in well-controlled patients, and 7% in stage III. The six clinical stages of type II diabetes include non-proliferative microangioma, hemorrhage, and exudative lesions in the first three stages, and proliferative neovascularization, vitreoretinal proliferation, and retinal detachment lesions in the last three stages, ultimately leading to loss of vision. The earliest changes are microangiomas and punctate hemorrhages in the retina, and as the disease progresses, hard exudates, cotton wool spots, dilated and distorted small vessels, traffic branch formation, and proliferative microvascular abnormalities in the retina. When the disease develops capillary atresia, grayish white cotton wool spots appear in the fundus, the number may be large or small, and retinal neovascularization appears, all reflecting retinal vasculopathy, hyperemia and functional failure. Modern ophthalmology clinics are actively screening and examining for the effective prevention and treatment of this disease. For diabetic retinopathy diagnosed at stage III or higher, medical treatment of glycemic control alone cannot stop the progression of retinal disease. In addition to retinal laser photocoagulation and vitrectomy to treat serious complications such as retinal neovascularization and vitreous hemorrhage secondary to diabetic retinopathy, early diabetic retinopathy is insidious, and often patients themselves have no obvious ocular symptoms and are easily ignored.