Dry Eye Concept 1 -     

... instead of a DEFINITION

for Dry Eye Disease - how about this ?

Dry Eye Disease is a complex, typically chronic, dysregulation of the functional anatomy of the ocular surface including the tear film that typically leads to symptoms of dryness, visual disturbance, ocular irritation and pain - it can be amplified by self-enforcing vicious circles that are prominently driven by inflammatory pathways and may eventually lead to a progressive destruction of the ocular surface.

There are many attempts for a definition of Dry Eye Disease around ...

The ´tricky thing´ is ... to mention all, at least major, characteristics of Dry Eye ... without producing too much overlap with other conditions at the ocular surface ... trying to highlight latest developments in research that are often thought, at least for a while, to be the most important ones ... without forgetting or contradicting too many of the established and well known characteristics ... and to still produce something that remains sufficiently short, clear, succinct and understandable to most people from the basic scientist over the clinician to the layman/laywoman ... and to find enough people who are willing to support it - but is mass related to truth ? ... and if so, is this positively or negatively correlated ? 

Hmmm ...  doesn´t that sound like the ´quadrature of the circle´ ... or at least like ´cutting the Gordian Knop´ ... but Alexander the Great is no longer around

Therefore ... all definitions achieved so far had a limited lifetime in the eye of eternity because they had all to be adapted soon to meet the latest advancements of scientific knowledge... no matter how perfect they seemed when they were composed

But ... isn´this also a positive outlook ... suitable to anoint the exhausted soul of everyone who is attempting a definition ???