Diabetic retinopathy happens when diabetes damages the tiny blood vessels inside your retina.

If you have persistent high blood sugar levels over a long period of time, diabetes can damage your:

Over time, diabetes can damage the body's tissues.

Because diabetes can damage nerves that control bladder function, it can be a factor in incontinence.

For example, diabetes can damage the lining of your blood vessels.

Atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries) and diabetes can damage circulation, causing poor blood supply to the womb.

It occurs when diabetes damages the tiny blood vessels inside the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.

Type 2 diabetes can damage blood vessels and nerves, so just about every part of your body can be affected by the disease.

There are a number of ways that diabetes damages the nerves, all of which seem to be related to increased blood sugar levels over a long period of time.

Though it may be transient, untreated gestational diabetes can damage the health of the fetus or mother.