Can diabetic retinopathy be cured?

Yes: Diabetic retinopathy can be treated with a variety of treatments. New treatments have done a much better job of improving vision than older treatments that usually stabilized vision but did not improve it. The best way to prevent retinopathy is to have good control of blood sugars.

No cure yet: Diabetic retinopathy cannot be cured but can be effectively treated and in the last 10 years the treatments have improved dramatically with new surgical instruments for the small percentage that require surgery and several new medications that can improve macular edema (swelling of the retina) and control bleeding. But there's no substitute for good sugar and BP control to slow progression.

Yes, temporarily: Laser treatment plus sometimes intravitreal injection of medicines like Avastin or Lucentis (ranibizumab) are very effective, albeit temporary, cures for diabetic retinopathy. Exercise and tight control of blood sugar can help reduce the frequency and severity of recurrence. The image shows yellow spots of laser treatment. On the left side, some swelling and bleeding appears.