Overview of Dry Eye Disease

Currently, dry eye disease is a common disease, especially for people who often sit in front of computer screens for long periods of time.

Although dry eye disease is not a dangerous disease, it will leave many health consequences such as: fatigue; red, sore eyes; reduced work productivity. In some cases, people with dry eye disease may have reduced vision, seeing everything becomes blurry after blinking; continuous tearing.

Causes of Dry Eye Disease

The cause of dry eye disease is due to an imbalance in the ability to secrete and drain water. With the following specific causes:

• The amount of tears secreted is not enough to serve the eye’s activities. The lacrimal glands in and around the eyelids gradually reduce the function of secreting water to wet the eyes. In addition, wind, weather and environment also cause dry eyes, eye fatigue, high evaporation rate of the eyes leading to dry eyes.
• Poor tear quality: the fat layer, water layer and mucus layer of the eye do not fulfill the function of protecting the eyeball from external factors. Water in the eye evaporates too quickly or water cannot spread evenly on the surface, causing dry eyes. In addition, there are some diseases that make the eyes susceptible to dryness such as: blepharitis, rosacea, which prevents the mucus layer from producing water.

Symptoms of Dry Eye

Dry eye is manifested by the following symptoms:

• A feeling of dryness, grittiness like there are grains of sand in the eyes.
  Red or hot eyes.
• Tears and reduced vision due to severe dry eyes leading to damage to the surface of the eyeball.

Transmission of Dry Eye

Dry eye cannot be transmitted from one person to another.

Subjects at risk of Dry Eye

People at risk of dry eye disease are as follows:

• Age: Most adults over 65 years old will have symptoms of dry eye due to the natural aging process.
• Gender: Women due to hormonal changes after pregnancy or taking birth control pills, during menopause will have a higher risk of dry eye.
• People with a history of drug use: People with a history of using antihistamines, anti-inflammatory drugs, antihypertensive drugs and pain relievers or eye drops without a doctor’s prescription will have a high risk of dry eye.
• People with systemic diseases or ear and eye diseases: People with a history of rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, thyroid damage, inflammation of the eyelids, ocular surface or eyelid abnormalities will have a high risk of dry eye.
• People who live and work in environments such as: exposure to tobacco, wind, dry weather, working with computers for long periods of time will have a high risk of dry eyes.

Preventing Dry Eye Disease

To prevent dry eye disease, it is necessary to avoid the following factors and risks:

• Follow the principles when working and regularly interacting with computers: Keep your eyes 10-20cm higher than the center of the computer screen; keep a minimum distance between your eyes and the computer of
• 50cm; regularly relax, blink, and roll your eyes to better regulate mucus; have regular eye check-ups at specialized hospitals to promptly detect the disease.
• Keep your living and working environment clean, fresh, and safe to protect your eyes.

Diagnosis of Dry Eye Disease

To diagnose eye diseases, it is first necessary to rely on the results of a comprehensive eye examination along with determining some indicators of the tear film such as:

• Check the patient’s medical history of eye symptoms, medication use, living and working environment factors.
• Then examine the outside of the eyeball to check for abnormalities when the eyelids move.
• Use a microscope with a slit lamp and higher magnification to evaluate lesions of the eyelids and cornea.
• Check the quality of tears by determining whether the eyes are dry or not.

Treatments for Dry Eye

Dry eye disease is one of the chronic diseases that is difficult to cure completely. Therefore, the most optimal treatment is to keep the eyes healthy, comfortable and maintain good physical condition with methods such as: supplementing artificial tears, maintaining the tear film on the surface of the eyeball to increase tear secretion, treating inflammation of the eyelids and the surface of the eyeball.

In addition, some methods can be used to help maintain even tears, warm the cornea such as: practice the habit of blinking slowly and evenly (12-18 times/minute), avoid exposure to dust and strong light; avoid letting the wind blow directly into the eyes; regularly instill artificial tears to prevent dry eyes; Have a reasonable diet, regularly supplement foods containing Omega-3 and Beta-Carotene, increase antioxidants to help improve eye health.