Introduction – The silent epidemic of the gaze
Η Dry eye is today one of the most common and underestimated conditions of the developed world More than 30% of the population report, daily or occasionally, a feeling of dryness, stinging, redness or “sand” in the eyes. This is not a small local nuisance. For many people it is that constant burning, the heaviness of the eyelids at night, the discomfort at screens, the tearing in the wind, the feeling that “my eyes got tired before I got tired.”
In the era of screens, air conditioning, poor sleep and overstimulation, the eyes — like the skin — suffer. But behind this symptom there is something deeper: dry eye functions as a mirror of our overall balance. It reflects the health of the skin, the microcirculation, the hormoneseven mental exhaustion
Dry eye is not a disease of the 21st century. The Hippocrates already described in “On the Eyes” clinical pictures that resemble what today’s patients experience:
“Dry eyes, burning, without tears; a sign of lack of humors.”
For Hippocrates, dryness in the eyes was not simply “a local problem.” It was a sign of systemic imbalance. And this idea — that the eyes reveal the inside — returns today, stronger than ever.
