Have you heard of "dry eye syndrome?"

How Dry Eye Syndrome 

Affects Our Daily Lives... 

Waking up in the morning, I have felt the unusual dryness of my eyes. Yes, the season for xerophthalmia has come. The dryness can be a little bothering for some, but for others, such symptom of blurred vision, gritty or scratchy feeling and itching or redness in the eye can affect their daily lives. So, this week's newsletter talks about the causes of dry eye syndrome and provides preventive measures to help them avoid such a hassle. 

Eye Dryness, What are the Causes? 

The definition of Xerophthalmia by encyclopedia refers a medical condition in which the eye fails to produce tears. Also, this happens when lipid thin layer (ocular surface), which functions as a shield to protect eyes from drying up, is being damaged as a result of imbalance in tear constituents, thus resulting in quick evaporation of tears. People say that this usually occurs in people who are otherwise healthy caused by a deficiency in vitamin A. 

Also, it becomes more common with age due to hormonal changes that make your eyes produce fewer tears). This kind of "dry eye syndrome" is worsened in a cold, dry weatherespecially in autumn and winter. Some other causes for dry eye can be a dry, windy environment or air-conditioned workplace. Exposure to sun or to both first and secondhand smoke can too cause xerophthalmia. Not only that, these days, many people suffer with dry eye syndrome as a side effect of LASIK and LASEK eye surgeries. 

Some other causes for dry eye can be a dry, windy environment or air-conditioned workplace. Exposure to sun or to both first and secondhand smoke can too cause xerophthalmia. Not only that, these days, many people suffer with dry eye syndrome as a side effect of both LASIK and LASEK eye surgeries. 

So if dry eye syndrome attacks you, how do you treat it? 

From personal experience, the first thing to do is to visit doctors to be prescribed with artificial tears free of preservatives, or if it is caused by an inflammation of the eyelids, get anti-inflammatory or restasis eye-drops. Once you have it, start using the drops at least 5 times per day or even more when the symptoms are worse. When you still don't get better, increase the use to every one or two hours. Sometimes, changing the brand 

can be a solution but it's always better to talk to the doctor for further assistance.

Prevention is Better than Cure! Water Prevents Eye-dryness!

Here are some of the tips to prevent eye dry syndrome.

1. Stay away from dry environments. Use a humidifier and avoid using air-conditioner. 

2. Frequently blink eyes. A person usually blinks eyes in 3 to 5 seconds. However, when a person looks a computer monitor or focuses on something, his or her eyes are kept open for more than 10 seconds. So blinking eyes which produces tears is recommended especially when reading a book or using a computer. 

3. Drink an adequate amount of water. We kept stressing that maintaining the moisture in our body is important. In fact, drinking water can be the very basic preventive measure of xerophthalmia. An intake of antioxidant alkaline water can balance the constituents of tears and sustain a healthy layer of tears. 

4. Avoid using contact lenses. Contact lenses reduce the sensitivity of cornea and dries eyes. Also, conjunctivis can be developed due to wearing contact lenses. Thus, minimizing its use can help prevent dry eye syndrome. 

References

National Health Institute (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000426.htm)