Mobile phones glued to your hands all day, staring at computers at work, then scrolling through videos at home.

Do you often suffer from dry, heavy eyes, soreness, or blurred vision?

June 6 this year marks the 31st National "Eye Care Day" with the theme "Eye Health for Everyone".

After excessive screen use, many people feel temporary discomfort but think, "it will go away after a rest" or "just a few eye drops will fix it".

In fact, these are warning signals from your eyes. If ignored for a long time, symptoms like dryness, redness, and foreign body sensation can develop into dry eye disease, corneal damage, or even infectious keratitis, severely affecting vision.

How to prevent dry eye? What are common blindness-causing eye diseases? Which signs mean you must see a doctor? China News Network invited Professor Yan Xiaoming from Peking University First Hospital Eye Center and Professor Li Shaowei from Beijing Aier-Intech Eye Hospital to debunk myths and protect public eye health.

Screen time and staying up late are major triggers of dry eye

Like myopia, dry eye is a highly prevalent condition increasing with modern lifestyles. According to the "Chinese Dry Eye Expert Consensus (2024)", global prevalence ranges from 5% to 50%, and in China it reaches 21.0%–52.4% — roughly 1 in 5 people suffer from it.

"Clinically, dry eye has been rising significantly in recent years," says Yan Xiaoming. This change is closely related to environmental factors and lifestyle/eye-use habits. "When focusing on screens, blink frequency drops dramatically. Nowadays, people spend long hours on electronic devices — from children to adults, especially young and middle-aged people: computers at work, phones at home, and also staying up late, plus air pollution — all of these contribute."

Additionally, environmental factors like air pollution and dry climates, systemic diseases such as diabetes and Sjögren's syndrome, refractive surgeries, allergies, and even anxiety can cause or worsen dry eye. Among these, excessive use of electronic devices is considered the most important reason for the rapid rise in recent years.

So how to distinguish eye fatigue from dry eye? Li Shaowei points out that symptoms overlap — both can cause dryness, strain, etc. The general public cannot easily differentiate. "But if your symptoms affect your vision, or if persistent dryness, foreign body sensation, or burning don't go away, you must go to a hospital for scientific and professional evaluation."

Li Shaowei warns that dry eye is by no means a trivial "minor problem". Long-term lack of treatment can increase the risk of corneal infection, and severe cases can lead to fluctuating vision or even corneal ulcers. However, with targeted treatment and control of triggers, most dry eye can be effectively relieved or cured.

Based on the tear film components, dry eye can be divided into five types: lipid-deficient (oil deficiency), aqueous-deficient (water deficiency), mixed type, mucin-deficient, and tear动力学 abnormality. Treatment must target the specific cause. "Dry eye is chronic disease management — it’s not cured after one hospital visit. Patients must change their living habits at home," says Li Shaowei.

Cataracts: The "wait until ripe" myth is outdated

If the human eye is compared to a camera, the lens is the camera's lens. When the lens becomes cloudy for any reason, vision becomes blurred and dim — that's cataracts. But many people still cling to the outdated idea that cataracts are an "old age disease" and that you must wait until they "ripen" for surgery.

Yan Xiaoming notes that besides the most common age-related cataracts, there are congenital cataracts (related to genetics, maternal infections), traumatic cataracts (common in young adults), and complicated cataracts (prone in patients with high myopia, diabetes, uveitis, etc.).

She emphasizes that cataracts are not exclusive to the elderly. People over 40 should pay attention to changes in eye health. Especially those with refractive problems like myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, or presbyopia — if experiencing decreased vision, night glare, or reduced contrast sensitivity, they should seek medical attention promptly rather than assuming it's just worsening presbyopia or myopia.

"In the past, there was a saying to wait until the cataract ripens, but with technological advances, that concept has completely changed," says Li Shaowei. Compared to traditional cataract surgery, current methods include femtosecond laser-assisted surgery, multifocal intraocular lens implantation, and micro-incision surgery. "Now we perform cataract surgery not simply for visual restoration, but to improve visual quality and function."

He further explains: "If a patient’s cataract is not yet severe but they have presbyopia, or myopia, astigmatism, and hyperopia combined with mild cataract, their visual function is poor and affects daily life or work. In this case, cataract surgery can be done earlier, accurately correcting their astigmatism, presbyopia, myopia or hyperopia, and restoring normal, functional vision."

Li Shaowei emphasizes that the best timing for cataract surgery depends on whether reduced vision affects daily life. "If it affects the person's daily life and work, and vision no longer meets their needs, then surgery can be performed. Each person’s occupation and requirements differ. Currently, it is generally accepted that patients with corrected visual acuity below 0.5 may consider cataract surgery. But some people find 0.5 sufficient and can wait longer; others find 0.8 insufficient and should have surgery earlier."

Early diagnosis and treatment are key

Eye diseases can occur at any age, but early detection can prevent and treat most of them. Eye health is not a one-size-fits-all regimen; different age groups and lifestyles face different ocular risks.

Adolescents should have regular vision monitoring. Yan Xiaoming points out that most children over 3 years old can cooperate with vision tests, and it's recommended to start establishing visual and refractive development records at that age. Children's hyperopia reserve is usually depleted by age 12. If myopia appears at age 6, it may increase the risk of developing high myopia in the future. She also notes that common childhood allergies lead to eye rubbing, which can alter corneal shape, induce or worsen astigmatism, and even accelerate axial elongation, making myopia progress faster.

Middle-aged and elderly people and those with chronic diseases need regular fundus and intraocular pressure checks. Li Shaowei says that as age increases, the incidence of blinding eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration rises. After age 40, tear gland function declines, tear secretion decreases, meibomian glands age and shrink, oil secretion decreases, tears evaporate easily, and the prevalence of dry eye in middle-aged and elderly people is much higher than in younger individuals.

Moreover, elderly patients with diabetes and hypertension are at high risk for eye diseases. Many chronic disease patients only focus on blood pressure and blood sugar numbers but ignore eye health. Yan Xiaoming explains that corneal neuropathy caused by high blood sugar and damage to the lacrimal gland functional unit are core causes. The incidence of dry eye, meibomian gland dysfunction, and corneal neuropathy is significantly higher in diabetics.

Li Shaowei urges: "Eye health is extremely important for a happy life, social harmony, and preserving working ability. Pay attention to eye health, get scientific exams and protection, trust the regular medical system, have eye health checkups and treatments at proper hospitals, and never delay or self-medicate. Protect your eyes with scientific care." (Reporter Zhao Fangyuan)