Alert Dry Eyes Turns Out To Be A Sign Of Autoimmune Disease

Eye examination illustration (Pexels/Ksenia)

JAKARTA - Dry eyes are health problems experienced by many people, but are often taken lightly. In fact, dry eyes can be a sign of serious illness, one of which is autoimmune.

Autoimmune is a disease that occurs when the immune system misidentifies healthy cells and attacks them. One of the signs of someone experiencing autoimmune can be seen from the dry eyes.

Dry eyes are not a light condition. For some patients, dry eyes can actually be an indication of the autoimmune process that is taking place secretly in the body," said dr. Niluh Archi, SpM (dr. Manda), A Dry Eye Specialist and Contact Lense, JEC Eye Hospitals and Clinics, in the Kedoya area, West Jakarta, on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.

A study found 10 to 95% patients with immune system disorders with dry eyes. The American Academy of Ophthalmology says 10% of patients with dry eye disease experience Sjogren Syndrome (SS), which is a chronic type of autoimmune that attacks the tear glands and causes inflammation on the surface of the eye.

However, two-thirds of the case was not diagnosed. This raises concerns, because without early and proper treatment, the patient's condition can experience serious complications, such as injuries to the cinema, infection, and even permanent visual impairment.

In addition to Sjoorgren Syndrome, other autoimmune diseases can also trigger dry eyes, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and scleroderma. All four can cause systemic inflammation which also has an impact on the surface of the eye.

In many cases, early symptoms of autoimmune disease often appear in in indispecific forms. One of them, the onset of dry eyes, "said DR. Dr. Laurentius Aswin Pramono, M.Epid, SpPD-KEMD, as an Internal Medicine Doctor, JEC Eye Hospitals and Clinics.

Seeing the complexity of causes and the impact of dry eyes, especially those related to systemic disorders such as autoimmune, the handling clearly requires more than just a temporary reliever solution.

A thorough approach is needed that not only deals with symptoms, but also explores and understands the fundamental conditions that cause it.

Therefore, health services such as JEC Dry Eye Service are needed for examination and early handling of dry eyes. This can be a faster examination and treatment step if a patient with dry eyes turns out to have autoimmune.

The service presents accurate diagnostic technology, experienced medical team, and multidisciplinary collaboration between eye doctors, internal medicine, and reumatology. The collaboration is to ensure patients with dry eyes due to autoimmune gain proper, comprehensive, and sustainable treatment.

The multidisciplinary collaboration between an ophthalmologist and an internal medicine doctor is very important to recognize systemic inflammation patterns from an early age. Through careful eye examination, patients can be directed for further evaluation that may save other organs from permanent damage, "said Doctor Laurentius.