DME, or Diabetic Macular Edema, is a condition that you may have heard of. Occurring in people with diabetes, DME happens when damaged blood vessels in your eyes swell, weaken, and leak fluid. According to the CDC, if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy – damage to vessels at the back of your eye – you have a 50 percent chance of developing DME.
But for Black folks, it’s even worse. The problem is, too many brothers and sisters are dealing with diabetes in the first place. The CDC finds that Black adults have the second highest rate of diabetes for all racial groups, with 12 percent of the Community 18 or older diagnosed.
Because of these rates, the risks of DME are also significantly higher for the Black community. In fact, Black men and women are more than two times as likely as white people to develop DME, and also have a higher risk of going blind as a result.
While there are a lotta steps we can take collectively, as a society, to address these issues, first we gotta face reality. The stats speak for themselves. All around the world, the problem persists.
According to the Office of Minority Health here in the U.S., Black American adults:
- Are ~two times as likely as whites to die from diabetes
- Are ~60 percent more likely than whites to get a diagnosis
- Are ~2.5 times as likely as whites to be hospitalized and suffer long-term problems
- Are ~three times as likely as whites to receive an end-stage renal disease
But enough of all the bad news! While we can spend all day talking about the problems, what good does that do if we can’t offer some solutions? If you’re wondering why these issues are so prevalent in the Community, the answer is a bit complicated.
Let’s break it down.
RELATED: Seeing the Big Picture: What to Ask Your Doctor About DME
What’s Causing All These Higher Rates?
Let’s be straight up. Sometimes, you don’t feel like going to the doctor. Maybe you’re tired of all the back-and-forth, maybe your insurance coverage is lacking, or perhaps you simply don’t trust your doctor. What’s he or she gonna do, anyway? Put you on more meds? Run a buncha tests and charge you out the wazoo? Is it even worth the visit?
Because many studies have found medical distrust among Black patients, you’ve gotta consider that a factor. After all, if you
