Xerophthalmia is a deficiency in vitamin A that can cause problems throughout the body. This condition can impact the health of the eyes and lead to blindness and other eye health issues. This condition can be fairly easy to treat in the early stages but becomes more complex to treat in later stages of the condition.
The common symptoms of this condition are:
In the early stages of this condition, the patient might just notice that they have dry eyes. As the condition progresses, the list of more serious symptoms may start to be expressed.
The cause of Xerophthalmia is a deficiency in vitamin A. This is usually dietary in nature, but it can be related to other health conditions that can cause the body to struggle to uptake vitamin A from the diet. Patients with cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, pancreatic disorders, bile duct blockage, or chronic diarrhoea might also experience this vitamin deficiency. Excessive alcohol intake might also cause Xerophthalmia.
This condition is diagnosed by taking a complete medical history of the patient and by doing a complete eye examination. Blood tests can also be done to look at the levels of vitamin A in the body. Night vision testing and dark adaptation testing might be necessary as well.
If your doctor believes that you have more serious eye conditions that are impacting your sight, you might need to see an eye care specialist. Tests like impression cytology and electroretinograms can be done to take specimens from the conjunctiva for testing and to measure the way that the eyes respond to light, respectively.
Vitamin A supplements are usually given to patients with this condition. This typically alleviates many of the ongoing symptoms of the condition. Artificial tears might be necessary to treat dry eyes during the first few weeks that the patient is taking supplements. If there is damage to the eyes or an eye infection associated with Xerophthalmia, antibiotics, and other interventions might be necessary.
If you have an underlying health condition that has led to Xerophthalmia, you might not be able to prevent getting this condition. However, eating enough dark green or leafy vegetables or things like yellow vegetables can help you to get enough vitamin A in your diet. There is a whole list of foods that offer up vitamin A in large quantities. Eating these foods can ensure that you do not end up being deficient in this important vitamin.
Make sure as well that you see a doctor right away as soon as you start experiencing symptoms of this condition. The sooner that you get treatment for this vitamin deficiency, the better. Getting your vitamin A levels back to where they should be will help prevent long-term eye health issues and damage to the eyes.