Are you silently suffering from Dry Eyes Disease? Eye care specialist Dr Nikhil Gokhale explains why you should be worried

 Eyes are windows to the world. However, you pay attention to them only when your eyes feel itchy or red, correct? Well, this could be a sign of dry eyes. Dry eye disease is among the most common eye disorders affecting millions worldwide. Given the commonality of its symptoms, it often goes unreported, with an estimated prevalence of 5% to 50% of the adult population. One of the leading causes of dry eye disease is increased screen time. Over the last few years, your screen time has grown exponentially and looking at the current trends, it doesn’t look like it will change anytime soon. Therefore, it is pivotal for you to start caring for your eyes from various threats, especially dry eyes.

To educate you about dry eye disease and how you can manage it, we have Dr Nikhil Gokhale from Gokhale Eye Hospital and Eye Bank, Mumbai.
1. Dr. Gokhale, can you educate our viewers on Dry eye disease and its symptoms?
Sure. So, the eye's surface is coated with a thin layer of fluid called the tears, which keeps the surface constantly moist and healthy and is essential for clear vision. The tear fluid consists of an oily layer on the outside, a watery middle layer, and an inner mucous layer. Blinking helps the tears to spread evenly on the eye surface. When there is any change in the quantity or quality of tears or improper blinking, our eyes start to feel dry. Common symptoms include a burning and stinging sensation, scratchy or gritty feeling, foreign body sensation, paradoxical watering of eyes, blurred and fluctuating vision, pain, redness and mucus discharge etc.
2. What are your thoughts on Dry eye disease becoming a public health concern?
Dry eye disease is a growing public health concern, with prevalence estimates in India being 2% to as high as 32%. With an ageing population and increasing screen usage, this is only likely to increase. Ocular discomfort, fatigue, and visual disturbance due to dry eye have a serious impact on the quality of life (QoL). It affects physical, social and psychological functioning and leads to a significant reduction in workplace productivity.
3. What are some lifestyle changes you would recommend to manage dry eye disease?
Identifying and controlling the likely factors that may exacerbate dry eye are important. Some of the common changes that can be useful are:
a) Prolonged usage of screens is the most common cause of dry eye symptoms in young adults. Though it cannot be eliminated totally, reducing screen time, taking breaks, blinking frequently and following the 20-20-20 rule can help. Correct posture and looking down rather than up at a screen can also help.
b) Healthy diet including fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, nuts and fish is recommended. Avoid saturated fats and use healthy oils such as olive oil and those with higher omega-3 content. Omega 3 oils are also present in flax seeds and chia seeds. Walnuts and certain fish sources are also recommended.
c) Quit Smoking because it has been linked to dry eye disease and age-related macular degeneration in the eye and all its other harmful effects.
d) Improve sleep because inadequate sleep can worsen dry eye symptoms.
e) Environmental modifications such as low humidity environments, a fan, or an AC air draft coming directly onto the eyes make dry eye patients feel worse. Exposure to fumes, pollutants and dusty environments also exacerbates dry eye. The use of protective eyewear outdoors can be helpful.
f) Avoid contact lenses if your eyes are dry and getting red repeatedly due to a dry eye problem (in consultation with your ophthalmologist).
g) Systemic medications can make a dry eye worse by suppressing tear production. Antiallergics, blood pressure medications, antipsychotics or antidepressants and a host of others may be responsible and need to be substituted if possible.
4. What are the general eye care techniques to keep our eyes healthy?
Eat healthily, sleep well, exercise regularly, wear protective sunglasses outdoors, get regular eye check-ups (especially for diabetics), don’t ignore eye problems, never self-medicate or let your chemist treat your eye problems and avoid rubbing your eyes.
5. Can you help us understand what’s tear film?
In continuation from the first question, the tears are composed of oil, water and mucous broadly. The oily layer comes from the oil glands in the eyelids, helps to keep the tear film stable on the eye surface and prevents it from drying up quickly. The watery layer comes from the lacrimal glands and helps to flush and keep the eye surface clean and clear. It contains electrolytes, proteins and anti-infective proteins that keep the surface healthy. The mucus layer is secreted by cells in the conjunctiva and helps the tears to adhere to the surface tissues. An alteration in any of these components can cause dry eye.
6. Dr. Gokhale, how can one treat and manage dry eye disease?
Medical treatment for dry eye patients is initiated with the use of artificial tears, which help to keep the surface moist and wet and provide immediate comfort. Many lubricants with different polymers are available to treat diverse types of dry eye patients. Anti-inflammatory therapy, most often with cyclosporine eye drops, also plays an important role. Tear conservation by plugging the outflow channels and scleral contact lenses is used in more severe cases.
7. Can you also explain new generation artificial tears and how they can help with Dry Eye disease?
Artificial tears can never mimic the composition of natural tears, and this has been a major shortcoming in dry eye management. However, we are trying to close in by providing a composition which is close to natural tears. Oil-deficient dry eye is a very common type of dry eye disease, and presently, most available artificial tear formulations cannot address this issue. New-generation tears available in India contain oil and water-holding polymers and are useful in treating this subset of patients.
When asked if he has any last comments or advice for our readers, Dr Gokhale cautioned everyone against relying on Google to diagnose their eye problems. He also advised not to ignore eye problems and always consult an ophthalmologist instead. And concluded with an important advice - “Regular eye exams have no substitute”.
So, educate yourself on eye health this year, follow better eye hygiene than before and get regularly tested to keep all eye diseases at bay.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the story are independent professional judgments of the doctors/experts, and TIL does not take any responsibility for the accuracy of their views. This should not be considered a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your treating ophthalmologist for more details. This article has been produced on behalf of Alcon by Times Internet’s Spotlight team.