What Is DME?

For the nearly 21 million Americans living with diabetes², vision loss is a common complication. Diabetic macular edema is one of three forms of retinopathy, the leading cause of legal blindness in Americans aged 55-74.³

Macular edema occurs when leaky blood vessels cause part of the eye (the retina) to become thick or swollen. As the condition worsens, it may cause blurred and distorted vision.

Prevalence

People living with diabetes are at greater risk for experiencing vision loss than people without diabetes.⁴ Approximately 14 percent of people with diabetes have diabetic macular edema, according to the International Diabetes Federation.⁵

According to the International Diabetes Federation, approximately 25 percent of people with diabetic macular edema may develop moderate vision loss within three years.⁶

One in four African-American women over 55 years of age has diabetes⁷, and approximately 40 percent of people with diabetes develop problems with their eyes.⁸

Diabetes is a leading health problem for Hispanics and the primary cause of vision loss in America. Nearly half of all adult Hispanics in the United States living with diabetes are coping with a form of vision loss known as diabetic retinopathy, of which, diabetic macular edema (DME) makes up 10 percent of those cases.⁹

² American Diabetes Association: www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/prevalence.jsp
³ Klein R, Klein BEK. "Vision disorders in diabetes." Diabetes in America. 2nd ed. NIH Publication No. 95-1468, 1995
⁴ American Diabetes Association: http://diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/eye-complications.jsp
⁵ International Diabetes Federation: www.idf.org/home/index.cfm?node=1155
⁶ Ibid
⁷ http://diabetes.org/communityprograms-and-localevents/africanamericans.jsp
⁸ http://www.nei.nih.gov/nehep/plans/diabetesplan.asp
⁹ http://www.nei.nih.gov/news/statements/latinostudy.asp