A drop of the viscoelastic stuff for dry eye

Ask any clinician whether patients routinely present with dry eye symptoms on a daily basis and you are likely to be greeted with an emphatic yes. The number of people around the world with a diagnosis of dry eye is growing at almost 3 per cent per year and it is estimated that there will be 250 million people suffering with symptoms by 2022.1

In the UK the prevalence is estimated to be approximately one in five adults,2 but this is the people with a confirmed diagnosis and probably represents just the tip of the iceberg; there are likely to be many more affected by what we would call ‘episodic’ dry eye. This would present itself, when working on computers or tablets, when wearing contact lenses, with exposure to air conditioning, and related to many other external influences. A recent study demonstrated that one in 10 British women have a diagnosis of dry eye disease, but one in five experience symptoms.3 The prevalence of dry eye problems increases through life with every decade, and dryness remains one of the most common eye complaints among the elderly.4,5