As we all know, it is very common for adults to have dry eyes, but do you know that children also have dry eyes?
But at present, the research on children's dry eye is still very lacking. We should know that dry eye can lead to corneal epithelial damage, even corneal scar, and affect vision development, so we must pay attention to it! So, what is the cause of children's dry eye?
Computer and mobile phone
With the popularization of mobile phones and computers, children are frequently exposed to watching TV, brushing videos and watching animation. The use rate of children's video terminals in some developed countries has reached 89.9%. Moreover, the use rate of children in urban areas is higher than that in rural areas, and the use rate of children of high school age is higher than that of children of low school age. The research results show that the longer the time of contact with video terminals, the higher the incidence rate of dry eye.
Allergic conjunctivitis
Allergic conjunctivitis is the most common allergic disease in children's eyes, often accompanied by burning, foreign body sensation and other symptoms similar to dry eyes. The prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis in children aged 6~14 years was 0.3%~20.5% 7. Tear film dysfunction is one of the complications of allergic conjunctivitis. It is suggested that children with allergic conjunctivitis are often accompanied by dry eyes, which may be the result of abnormal meibomian gland function and mucin expression caused by goblet cell damage.
Blepharitis
Blepharitis refers to subacute or chronic inflammation of the eyelash follicle and its gland tissue on the surface of the eyelid margin. In recent years, the incidence rate of blepharitis in children in China has increased, and the atypical early symptoms of children tend to cause parents to ignore and delay treatment.
Repeated attacks of facial marginal inflammation can cause dry eyes with excessive evaporation, and even cause keratitis to damage vision. The study found that the incidence rate of blepharitis in children was lower than that in adults, and the incidence of keratoconjunctivopathy in children was also lower than that in adults, but some children still had dry eyes.
The above research shows that the children's dry eyes caused by blepharitis are related to the function of meibomian gland. The pathogenesis of blepharitis is complex. It can cause abnormalities in the quality and quantity of eyelid lipids secreted by the meibomian gland, thus reducing the stability of the tear film. At the same time, with the increase of inflammatory factors and the increase of tear osmotic pressure, it can lead to the onset of dry eyes. If artificial tears cannot improve the symptoms of dry eyes, it is necessary to consider the facial marginal inflammation and treat the symptoms accordingly.
Palpebral adenitis
Blepharitis is an acute inflammation caused by purulent bacteria invading the eyelid gland, which is one of the common eyelid diseases in children. Children with facial adenitis are prone to ocular surface diseases.
Studies have shown that repeated attacks of blepharitis in children are likely to cause dysfunction of the meibomian gland, leading to dry eyes. Attention should be paid to the morphology and functional status of the meibomian gland in children with blepharitis to avoid more serious ocular surface diseases.
Ametropia
Ametropia is a common eye disease in children. It has been found that ametropia can cause asthenopia, which is closely related to the occurrence of dry eyes.
Visual fatigue can increase blink and reduce tear film stability. Visual fatigue can also cause chronic eye inflammation, which is closely related to dry eyes.
Hyperopia children are prone to asthenopia due to the blurring of far vision and near vision, and the excessive adjustment of ciliary muscle is required, resulting in dry eyes. The anorexic corneal surface of children with astigmatism is irregular, which increases the tear film and corneal surface tension, and reduces the tear film stability; And because the children's vision is unclear, they need to "squint". When the upper and lower faces are closed to 2mm, the tear film forms a slender "concave convex" cylindrical mirror. Long term bad visual habits will lead to disorder of tear metabolism, which will lead to the decline of tear film stability and dry eyes. Visual fatigue caused by mild hyperopia and astigmatism and increased surface tension of corneal epithelial cells may be one of the causes of dry eyes in children.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease. it has been confirmed that diabetes is related to many eye diseases, such as diabetes retinopathy, cataract, orbital infection, dry eye, corneal epithelial defect, corneal ulcer, etc.
At present, there are few relevant studies on dry eye in children with diabetes. Most studies show that type 1 diabetes may induce eye inflammation by affecting tear secretion, reducing corneal perception and other factors that lead to increased tear osmotic pressure, leading to dry eyes in children.
Immune related diseases
Sjogren's syndrome is an immune related disease, often accompanied by rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, graft versus host disease. The main manifestation of ocular involvement is that lymphocytes infiltrate and damage the lacrimal gland, resulting in decreased lacrimal secretion. Many studies have shown that autoimmune diseases can lead to dry eyes in children by damaging the lacrimal gland, reducing tear secretion and damaging the function of the meibomian gland to cause abnormal eyelid lipid secretion.
smoke
Smoking is a risk factor for dry eye in adults. Children smoke less actively but more passively. However, the longer and more children smoke passively every day, the higher the incidence of dry eye incidence rate. Moreover, the incidence rate of male children is higher than that of women, which may be because male children are more willing to partner with adults, increasing the possibility of passive smoking.
Studies have shown that passive smoking may lead to the increase of tear osmolality by causing local tissue inflammation, which is one of the risk factors for dry eye in children.
Vitamin A deficiency
Vitamin A is very important for the growth and differentiation of normal keratoconjunctival epithelial cells. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to keratomalacia. If not treated in time, corneal dryness, dissolution, and even necrosis and perforation will eventually form adhesive corneal leukoplakia and corneal staphyloma.
Every year, about 25000~50000 children in the world become blind due to vitamin A deficiency, especially in developing countries. This disease is common in consumptive diseases such as measles, pneumonia, dyspepsia, etc., and is caused by failure to supplement vitamin A in time. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to abnormal keratoconjunctival epithelium and dry eyes in children.
Congenital abnormal diseases
Dry eyes caused by congenital abnormal diseases are mainly related to the reduction of tear secretion. The main reason is that congenital dysplasia can cause lacrimal gland dysplasia and meibomian gland dysfunction to cause dry eyes in children.
Other factors
The survey found that the incidence rate of dry eye in children wearing contact lenses was about 4.3%, which may be related to the contact lens preservation solution and lens wear; The use of antihistamines in children with allergic diseases will also cause dry and uncomfortable eyes, which is related to the reduction of tear secretion after drugs antagonizing histamine receptors; Dry eyes in children can be caused by excessive evaporation of tears due to incomplete closure of eyelids after eyelid surgery.
Summary
Dear parents, when your child complains of itchy eyes, or frequent blinking, blurred vision, photophobia, mild conjunctival congestion and other symptoms, you must consider the possibility of dry eyes, and go to the hospital in time, so that you are responsible for your child!