What are the symptoms of dry eyes?
Which is more harmful to the eye, mobile phone or television?
How does phone use affect children's eye health?
Does it impede eye growth and visual function?
What is the cause of dry eyes?
And how can it be treated?
What are the ways to prevent dry eyes?
These and other questions are answered in this report.
Today, Thursday, the world celebrates World Sight Day, and on this occasion, we directed these questions to Dr. Dina Safwan Al-Zaidan, consultant ophthalmologist at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar and a member of the Anti-Blindness Committee, which she answered in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net.
Why does the world celebrate World Sight Day?
World Sight Day is a global day that is celebrated on the second Thursday of October every year, and the title of our campaign this year is “Love Your Eyes.” In this campaign, we send a message to the Qatari community to spread awareness and health education for eye safety, and we provide prevention tips. One of the factors that threaten the safety of vision.
What are the main threats facing eye health today?
More than a billion people around the world suffer from low vision due to problems and diseases in the eye, including these diseases:
Diabetic retinopathy
white water
glaucoma
In the children's category refractive errors (refractive visual defects such as myopia and hyperopia).
In addition, during the past two years, the study system and remote work required the use of computers and smart devices for long hours, which increased the rate of dry eyes.
World Sight Day is held on the second Thursday of October every year (Holly Fisher - Wikipedia)
Which is more harmful to the eye mobile phone or TV?
Both the phone and the TV have a negative effect on the eyes if they are used for long and continuous periods, due to the low rate of blinking of the eyes, which increases the risk of dehydration.
The rays emitted by these devices are of short range and high strength, causing damage to every part of the eye, starting from dry eyes and reaching damage to the retina.
As for the mobile phone, it causes fatigue in the eye muscles more than the TV (Digital Eye Strain) because it is close to the eye.
How does phone use affect children's eye health?
Does it hinder eye growth and visual function?
As we mentioned earlier, using a mobile phone for long, continuous hours causes eye muscle fatigue, and in children increases the risk of refractive errors, which necessitates the need to wear glasses.
What are the symptoms of dry eyes?
Most patients complain of eye redness, pain up to the point of sensitivity to lighting, a sensation of a foreign body described as sand, dust or blinking inside the eye, and finally blurry vision that improves with closing the eye.
Dr. Dina Safwan Al-Zaidan: In general, healthy foods maintain the integrity of the body in general, which ensures the safety of the eye (Hamad Medical Corporation)
What is the cause of dry eyes?
And how can it be treated?
An imbalance in the lacrimal membrane that covers the surface of the eye to protect the eye from any external factors.
And the causes of disruption of the lacrimal membrane injuries or superficial infections of the eye or eyelids.
Dryness can be treated using artificial tears that come in the form of drops, gel or ointment, depending on the severity of the dryness
What ways to prevent dry eyes?
Stay away from factors that cause dehydration, such as exposure to air conditioning devices directly, or wearing protective glasses.
We recommend using the 20-20-20 rule to rest your eyes for 20 seconds by looking 20 feet away every 20 minutes when reading or using digital media.
Not neglecting eyelid infections and treating them after being diagnosed by the ophthalmologist using cleaning and washing the eyelids.
What are the most prominent foods that maintain eye health?
In general, healthy food maintains the safety of the body in general, which ensures the safety of the eye because the diseases of the body directly or indirectly affect the safety of the eye, as the eye is the mirror of the body.
Do carrots strengthen eyesight, as they say?
Healthy foods are generally beneficial to the body, and it is not necessary that eating carrots strengthens eyesight.
Carrots contain beta-carotene, which is the substance that the body needs to form vitamin A, the component that helps with night vision, and therefore it is an aid rather than an essential.