More children are getting dry eye disease because they spend so much time staring at screens, scientists say. The condition is more common among older people but is rising in the young because they blink less when looking at screens, so their tears dry up quicker.
So scientists at Aston University in Birmingham are developing a smartphone app to help diagnose people sooner if they are suffering with dry eyes.
The syndrome occurs when tears in the eyes are not produced properly or evaporate too quickly from the surface of the eyeball. This causes irritation and discomfort in the eyes, and can lead to blurred vision or more serious problems.
The team's app is designed to help GPs and pharmacists who don't often have the correct equipment to diagnose people with the common condition, the creators say.
Not everybody's tears work properly one in five adults are thought to have dry eyes, which cannot be cured but does not usually have serious consequences
Researchers say dry eye disease, which is more common in women, will affect a growing number of people because looking at screens a lot is likely to cause it.
