The Japanese researchers found the role of a protein called MUC5AC that is secreted by specialized cells in the upper eyelid to lubricate the eyes. The level of MUC5AC is decreasing to people working on computers. “To understand patients’ eye strain, which is one of major symptoms of dry eye disease, it is important that ophthalmologists pay attention to MUC5AC concentration in tears,” said study author Dr. Yuichi Uchino, an ophthalmologist at the School of Medicine at Keio University in Tokyo. To conclude in their study, the researchers sampled tears from both eyes of 96 Japanese office workers. They had a less amount of MUC5AC in the tears. Adjacently, it was determined that workers with dry eye disease-like symptoms are less productive and at higher risk of being depressed. For the instant, reducing the time spent in front of computers screens is a must. Another way to limit the unhealthy consequences is to better organize the work, introducing frequent breaks. Treating the symptoms with the actual medication for dry eye disease is possible but we need to understand that long time with intense computer work will damage the eyes’ health.
