Changes in how much you blink could be a sign of serious underlying health issues, according to health experts.
Either blinking too much or in some cases too little, can be a telltale sign that you have any one of a number of health problems, from simple allergies to more serious conditions like autoimmune disorders and even Parkinson’s.
Blinking helps to keep the eye moist and remove dust and debris, on average most human adults blink once every three to five seconds - but changes to this can indicate something else is going on. We list the seven conditions to look out for below.
1. Parkinson’s Disease
How often we blink is influenced by the amount of dopamine in our brains. The less dopamine, the less frequently we blink and the more we fixate on a single subject.
In people with Parkinson’s some of the nerve cells that make dopamine have stopped working and so they don’t have enough of the chemical in their brains. This lack of dopamine can lead to symptoms like slower blinking and tremoring hands.
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Parkinson’s has over 40 symptoms but the three main symptoms are tremors, slowness of movement and muscle stiffness. Around 145,000 people live with Parkinson’s in the UK and there are a range of different treatments and therapies available to help people manage the condition.
2. Grave’s disease
Graves' disease is an immune system condition that causes the body to produce too many thyroid hormones, this is called hyperthyroidism.
The condition can lead to weight loss and low energy levels as the autoimmune condition increases the body’s metabolic rate.
Two in every 100 Brits suffer from the condition, making Graves' the most common form of hyperthyroidism in the UK. Other symptoms commonly seen in sufferers include anxiety, tremors, heat sensitivity and irregular heartbeats.
Around one-third of patients also develop a condition known as thyroid eye disease - this causes the eyeballs to bulge, as the eyelids to retract and become too tight. This leads to a decrease in blinking and in some cases, the lack of protection to the eye can cause scarring on the cornea.
Treatment or surgery can be offered to patients suffering from the condition, to adjust thyroid levels in the blood or remove all or part of the thyroid gland.
3. Stroke
The normal rate of blinking can be slowed by other neurological conditions besides Parkinson’s, such as a stroke. This can come as a result of damage to the nerves in your eyelid, face or nearby muscles caused by a stroke.
Strokes occur when blood is cut off to part of the brain, this can cause damage to cells which can then suffer potentially life-threatening damage. Symptoms to watch out for include paralysis in the face, arm or leg as well as slurred speech, numbness or weakness.
4. Head injury
Slowed blinking has been observed in some athletes who have suffered head injuries, along with problems focusing.
5. Sjogren's syndrome
While many diseases can include slowed blinking among their symptoms, faster blinking can also be an indicator. We often blink more frequently when we have dry or tired eyes from focusing too long on a demanding task like driving for example.
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Excessive blinking can be a sign that your body is attempting to compensate for dry eyes, which can be caused by various things, but in some cases can be a symptom of an underlying disease.
For example, Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that results in widespread dryness of body parts that produce fluids, like tears and spit (saliva). Dry eyes caused by the condition can feel irritated, leading to increased blinking. The condition is more common in women than men and is usually seen in people aged 40 to 60.
The cause of the condition is still unknown but some experts think it could be triggered by a virus.
6. Allergies
Allergic reactions can be triggered by lots of substances; mould, pollen, dust mites, make-up and animal dander are all common triggers. As many as one in four Brits are thought to have suffered from an allergy of some sort at one point in their lives.
Typically the body reacts to the presence of an allergen by releasing histamine in the eyes which causes the blood vessels in the eye to stretch and get bigger. This can make the eyes turn red and feel itchy, triggering burning. They might be watery and swollen, too.
7. Tourette syndrome
A feature of Tourette syndrome is motor ‘tics’, sudden uncontrollable movements. A common tic among people with the condition is frequent blinking. About one in one hundred Brits is thought to be affected by Tourette syndrome, although the cause of the condition is still unknown.
One theory is that the syndrome is linked to problems with a part of the brain called the basal ganglia. In people who have Tourette's, the basal ganglia 'misfire', resulting in tics.
The condition is more likely to impact males than females, although researchers cannot say why, and the condition often runs in families.
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