الفهرس 
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Abstract
Summary
The tear film overlays the ocular surface and provides the interface between the eye and the external environment. The tear film is essential for the nutrition and protection of the ocular surface and for clear vision as the tear film is the first refractive surface of the eye.
Dry eye is a disorder of the tear film which occurs due to tear deficiency or excessive tear evaporation. Dry eye is a common condition reported by patients who seek ophthalmologic care. Dry eye is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance and tear film instability, with potential damage to the ocular surface. It is accompanied by increased osmolarity of the tear film and inflammation of the ocular surface.
Dietary intake of essential fatty acids is an alternative treatment in patients with dry eye. These fatty acids are the precursors for the synthesis of eicosanoids, i.e. prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes, which play important roles in inflammatory cascades. Arachidonic acid (AA) is converted into 2-series prostaglandins and 4-series leukotrienes via the cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase enzymes, respectively. The production of these AA-derived mediators can be decreased by the dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acid or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) through a process of competitive enzyme inhibition, shifting the balance towards a less inflammatory state.
Our study carried out 50 eyes for patients who complained from new onset dry eye symptoms (foreign body sensation, burning, itching, red eye, photophobia, or blurring of vision) with a history of recent phacoemulsification surgery and randomly allocated in two groups , treatment group that received omega 3 supplement after phacoemulsification , and other didn’t receive omega 3 and all of them will undergo for the diagnostic tests ( Tear break – up time, OSDI and schirmer I test) for 3 months .
In this study OSDI and TBUT showed significant improvement in both the control and treatment groups, but this improvement was significantly higher in the treatment group in comparison to the control group for OSDI, TBUT.
These results illustrated that supplementing the diet with high amounts of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids decreases dry eye symptoms after phacoemulsification and increases tear film stability.
Also In this study, Schirmer’s test results did not change significantly in the control group , despite clinically considerable improvement in mean Schirmer’s test of the treatment these results were not significant statistically.