Getting Out the Dry Eye Message

Dry eye disease has been an increasingly frequent topic in medical literature in recent years, but much of the public is still in the dark about the condition, says Robert Latkany, M.D., director of the Dry Eye Clinic at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. To help the growing number of U.S. patients suffering from dry eyes � he cites the number as approximately 77 million � Dr. Latkany has written a book, The Dry Eye Remedy. �There�s a tremendous amount of information patients need to know,� he says. �Instead of just telling them they have dry eye, we need to tell them why they have dry eye and what they can do about it. Once they understand why they have dry eyes, you can show them that there are better ways to treat this condition than just over-the-counter (OTC) products.�
The Dry Eye Remedy will retail for $15.95, roughly the cost, Dr. Latkany points out, of many OTC artificial tears. �The fee for this book is a miniscule amount as compared with co-pays and OTC drug costs, etc., that patients pay as they try to control their condition,� he says. Many physicians fail to give dry eye sufficient attention, feeding the patient�s tendency to resort to OTC treatments that only provide temporary relief of symptoms, he notes.
Dr. Latkany suspects this is due to the amount of chair time it would require for ophthalmologists to properly explain dry eye. �When I see a dry eye patient, I find that I don�t have enough time to explain to each one what they have, one of the various reasons why they have it and what they can do about it. This can take a lot of chair time and reduce the volume of patients you could see in a day,� he says.
According to Dr. Latkany, The Dry Eye Remedy
can help bridge the information gap and provide a resource for patients. It is easy reading, he says, and provides detailed information that patients need to know about the health of the surface of their eyes. Chapters cover topics such as �What causes dry eye disorders,� �Your