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Eyes DME About DME
About DME
About DME

About DME

Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), is a complication of diabetes that involves swelling in the back of the eye, in an area of the retina called the macula.1 ‘Edema’ or ‘Oedema’ are alternative spellings for the same term, meaning ‘swelling’. Hence, you may see DME referred to as DMO.

Line diagram of the cross-section of an eye. The pupil is a gap in the front of the eye, the lens is an oval shaped section behind the pupil, the retina is the inner layer of the back of the eye, with a purple patch on it which is labelled the macula, and the optic nerve is a line leaving the back of the eye.

DME is a ‘complication’, as opposed to a stand-alone condition, because it develops from another disease— diabetes. DME can affect those with Type I or Type II diabetes. Affecting a third of all patients, DME is the leading cause of blindness in young adults in developed countries.2,3

References

  1. NHS. Patient Information - Diabetic Macular Oedema. Available at: https://elht.nhs.uk/application/files/1216/2256/2541/Diabetic_Macular_Oedema_leaflet.pdf. Last accessed April 2025.
  2. Macular Society. Diabetic macular oedema (DMO). Available at: https://www.macularsociety.org/macular-disease/macular-conditions/diabetic-macular-oedema/. Last accessed April 2025.
  3. Romero-Aroca, Pedro. “Managing diabetic macular edema: The leading cause of diabetes blindness.” World journal of diabetes vol. 2,6 (2011): 98-104. doi:10.4239/wjd.v2.i6.98.