H36: Retinal disorders in diseases classified elsewhere

H36.0: Diabetic retinopathy

The retina is a layer inside the eye. It contains a lot of sensory cells that can perceive light. There are sensory cells for colors and sensory cells for light and dark. The sensory cells pass the information on to the nerve cells in the optic nerve.

There are some blood vessels in the retina. You have diabetes. The blood vessels in your retina have been damaged by the high sugar content in your blood. There may be bleeding from the damaged blood vessels. The retina may also be damaged.

If the blood vessels in the retina are damaged, there are often no symptoms at all initially. When there is retinal bleeding or retinal damage, one may see gray spots or shadows. One’s vision may then be worse, too. One may see things distorted or in unusual colors.