The incidence rate is increasing year by year, but not enough attention is paid to it.
Dry itchy eyes may be caused by dry eye syndrome (Health Through Train · Stop 37)
The picture shows the patient doing a dry eye examination.
Many people have felt this way, their eyes are tired, dry, and itchy.
During the new crown pneumonia epidemic, in order to avoid the spread of the virus, it is necessary to work at home and take online classes at home instead of going out.
Therefore, whether it is an adult or a child, the tools for learning, entertainment, and work have become computers, mobile phones, and televisions.
Excessive use of eyes at close range for a long time aggravates the symptoms of "dry, itchy, painful, and red" eyes.
Due to insufficient recognition and insufficient attention to dry eye, many patients develop severe dry eye due to delay in treatment, and severe dry eye causes repeated inflammation of the eye due to dryness, the cornea is damaged, and the transparency gradually decreases, which may eventually lead to blindness .
Dry eye has become another national eye health problem after myopia.
"Inconspicuous" minor ailments can cause blindness
Dry eye is an abnormality in tear quality or quantity or dynamics caused by various reasons, leading to a decrease in tear film stability. It is a high-incidence eye disease in modern people.
"Common symptoms of dry eye are foreign body sensation, dryness, pain and fatigue in the eyes, sometimes sensitive to wind and air conditioning, and sometimes visual fluctuations and blurring." Member of the Ocular Surface and Dry Eye Group of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association , Professor Li Shaowei, a doctoral supervisor of the Aier School of Ophthalmology, Central South University, and the director of the Aier Institute of Ophthalmology and Corneal Diseases, pointed out that there are four types of people who are prone to dry eye: one is people who stay up all night and overuse their eyes for a long time; And people who wear contact lenses; the third is the elderly, especially women; the fourth is the people with diabetes, hypertension and other diseases, and the people who take some drugs for a long time, including antidepressants, analgesics, etc.
With the advent of the "screen reading" era, the incidence of dry eye in my country is increasing year by year.
Recently, the "10.10 Dry Eye Care Day" was launched and released the "Chinese People Dry Eye Multi-center Big Data Report".
The report explores the causes, clinical characteristics, and regional differences of dry eye in our country for the first time, and provides a scientific basis for the precise treatment of clinical dry eye and the formulation of standardized and refined dry eye diagnosis and treatment procedures.
According to the "Consensus of Experts on Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Dry Eye in 2013", the incidence of dry eye in my country is about 21%-30%, and dry eye patients in outpatient clinics of medical institutions account for more than 30% of the total number of patients in ophthalmology.
Dry eyes are ubiquitous, covering people of all ages.
Professor Sun Xuguang, a member of the Asian Dry Eye Association, an expert member of the Chinese Ophthalmology Branch, and the honorary director of the Aier Institute of Ophthalmology and Corneal Disease, introduced: Adolescents and children) are more and more. Dry eye caused by air pollution has also become a common phenomenon. In addition to environmental and lifestyle factors, the cause of dry eye is also related to systemic diseases, drugs and emotions."
With the popularity of electronic products leading to changes in eye use habits and other reasons, the number of dry eye patients may increase by 10% every year.
"Dry eye is a chronic disease, which accumulates gradually. Dry eye can cause discomfort, that is, irritation, dryness, and pain, which affect normal life and rest. In severe cases, it can cause corneal ulcers, even perforation, and finally blindness. Therefore, dry eye must be detected early, intervened early, and treated early." Sun Xuguang said.
Dry eyes are not only "short of water" but also "short of oil"
"Chinese Dry Eye Multi-center Big Data Report" was completed by Aier Ophthalmology and Corneal Disease Research Institute in more than two years. It collected 4685 dry eye patients in Shenyang, Beijing, Harbin, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha and Guangzhou. Clinical index data, the age of patients ranges from 7-60 years old and above.
The report shows that among different dry eye types, the over-evaporation type (oil shortage) accounts for the highest proportion, reaching 51.3%.
All those related to meibomian gland dysfunction (including excessive evaporation and mixed dry eyes) accounted for 92.8% of the total.
"Many people think that dry eyes are'water shortage', so as long as'hydration' is enough, in fact it is not." Li Shaowei said that the lipid secreted by the meibomian glands, commonly known as "oil", functions mainly to "lock water and moisturize."
Therefore, once the secretion pipeline is blocked, the "oil" cannot be secreted, and the water-locking function will be destroyed.
Therefore, normalizing the function of the meibomian glands is the purpose of treating most dry eyes.
From the geographical distribution point of view, the proportions of dry eye types are different between the two groups of patients in the north and south. The mixed dry eyes in the northern group accounted for the largest proportion, accounting for 49%, while the southern group had the most evaporative dry eye. 56.4%.
At the same time, due to factors such as low air humidity, heavier smog in some areas, and heating in winter, the symptoms and signs of dry eye patients in northern areas are relatively heavier.
In terms of age and gender, mixed dry eye accounts for the highest proportion of dry eye patients over 60 years old.
This shows that with age, it is more likely to have abnormal meibomian gland function and water secretion at the same time.
Female patients have more severe symptoms and signs related to dry eyes than men, and are more likely to get dry eyes.
"At present, research on dry eye at home and abroad is still in its infancy. The differences in dry eye in different regions of China are very obvious, and the characteristics of the entire country must be taken into account. Therefore, the use of existing international research for the diagnosis and treatment of dry eye in China Lack of targeted guidance.” Li Shaowei said that domestic related dry eye research is mainly limited to local areas, and the research data is relatively scarce. Through nationwide, multi-center, in-depth research to explore the causes, classification characteristics and clinical characteristics of dry eye important.
Prevent dry eyes by blinking
Blinking is also called blinking. When blinking, the tear film can be evenly distributed to the eye surface and moisten the eyes. At the same time, people can also promote the discharge of lipid secreted by the meibomian glands by blinking to protect the tears from being evaporated. Improve the stability of the tear film, thereby preventing dry eyes.
A normal person blinks 15-20 times per minute. When working, studying, playing games, watching TV shows and driving, the eyes will enter a state of "focus" without blinking, and they will unconsciously reduce the number of blinks. Only 5 blinks per minute, the lipid secreted by the meibomian glands will decrease.
In addition, if people "blink incompletely", that is, every time they blink, they cannot completely cover the entire cornea. As a result, when the quality of blinking decreases, the amount of lipid excretion is not strong enough and the secretion of lipids is also reduced.
However, if the situation is serious, you cannot just blink.
Since Ms. Li faces the computer for a long time and frequently works overtime, she started to experience dry and uncomfortable eyes two years ago.
At first she thought she was just overusing her eyes, so she bought eye drops to ease it.
In the past two years, her eye discomfort has repeatedly appeared.
Ms. Li, whose life and work were affected, even thought that she was suffering from depression.
The doctor diagnosed that she was suffering from dry eye with abnormal lipids caused by meibomian gland dysfunction, and it was moderate. The meibomian glands had lost 1/3.
The doctor formulated a personalized diagnosis and treatment plan for it: eyelid moisturizing + light moisturizing dry eye treatment + home care combined treatment.
After a period of treatment, Ms. Li's symptoms have been greatly relieved, and her depression and anxiety have also been greatly improved.
Experts said that although dry eye is showing a trend of high incidence and a large population, many people do not know that "dry eye" is also a disease, and there is no awareness of seeking medical attention.
The treatment of dry eye is not good with random eye drops. It needs to distinguish the type and degree, and then conduct personalized treatment for each patient's different conditions.
What are the meibomian glands?
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Meibomian glands are glands hidden under the skin of the upper and lower eyelids. They are perpendicular to the eyelid margin and arranged in strips. Its opening is located at the eyelid margin near the root of the eyelashes.
One of the important functions of the meibomian glands is the secretion of meibum, which is an important part of the tear film, which functions to lubricate the ocular surface, moisturize and lock water.
Usually, when we blink, the meibomian glands secrete some meibum.
If you wear contact lenses for a long time, put on eye makeup, use electronic products for a long time, or blow air conditioning, it may cause abnormal sebum secretion, such as decreased secretion, turbid sebum or even toothpaste.
At this time, the eyes will have symptoms such as dryness, swelling and pain, which is called dry eyes caused by meibomian gland dysfunction.
(Yu Jingying and Qu Huiying)