The week of May 25 every year is the International Thyroid Knowledge Week.
Xiao Chen, 23, from Liangshan, Sichuan Province, found his eyes protruding a little about half a year ago, red, swollen and crying, but he didn't take it seriously. He thought that he might be too tired. He simply used some drugs to eliminate the swelling, so he didn't bother any more.
Half a year later, Xiao Chen's eyes were almost invisible. "It was full of pus". I went to several hospitals for treatment, and the doctor gave me the treatment plan of "removing bilateral eyeballs", which was unacceptable to young Chen. After several twists and turns, Xiao Chen came to Aier Ophthalmology Sichuan Ophthalmology Hospital and was diagnosed as Grade VI thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO), with double exophthalmos, red and swollen right eyelids and incomplete closure, corneal ulcer accompanied by corneal perforation.
Eyes are the window of the soul. Large eyes are often praised. However, some large and protruding eyes may be a kind of eye disease - TAO.
At present, people tend to suffer from high pressure, mental anxiety, long stay up late, excessive fatigue, and heavy iodine and oil in their diet, which may lead to thyroid related eye disease. According to statistics, the prevalence rate of thyroid related ophthalmopathy has increased year by year in recent years, but the public's awareness of it is still too little, and many patients have neglected it for a long time, leading to increasingly serious illness delay.
Professor Wu Tong, vice president of Aier Ophthalmology Sichuan Ophthalmology Hospital, introduced that thyroid related ophthalmopathy is the most common orbital disease in adults, and its typical manifestations are eyelid retraction, exophthalmos, diplopia, etc. In severe cases, corneal ulcer and compressive optic neuropathy will lead to blindness. Grade VI is the highest level of serious illness, which means that there is little chance to keep Xiao Chen's eyes.
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Wu Tong (second from right) communicates with Xiao Chen about his illness. Photograph provided by respondents
In fact, thyroid related ophthalmopathy has obvious symptoms. If you can go to professional medical institutions for medical treatment as soon as possible in case of eye protrusion, redness, swelling and other symptoms, you can find and treat it as early as possible to avoid deterioration of the disease.
"In the daily outpatient service, there are many patients who lack awareness of thyroid related ophthalmopathy, which leads to illness delay. For this reason, in recent years, I began to carry out various forms of science popularization around the disease on the small red books gathered by young people." Wu Tong said, "Basically, everyone's problems focus on the symptoms. Maybe after watching the video, they want to know whether they have thyroid related eye disease, or they directly send eye photos to confirm, ask what department to hang, how to treat, etc. This also makes me realize that science popularization for thyroid related eye disease has a long way to go."
