What Are Cataracts And How Do You Prevent Them?
J Schipper
As the population ages, cataracts are becoming a growing health
concern.
A cataract is a clouding of the eye lens to such an extent that
it affects vision. The majority of cataracts develop due to the
aging process, and by age 80, more than half of all Americans
have them. However, there are also other type of cataracts:
secondary cataracts, which form after surgery for other
ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma; traumatic cataracts,
which can develop after an eye injury; congenital cataracts;
and radiation-inducted cataracts. Cataracts can occur in just
one eye, or bilaterally.
Age-related cataracts can develop in two ways. Protein clumping
in the capsule of lens causes poor transmission of light,
leading to blurred and cloudy vision. Also, the normally clear
lens can develop a yellow or brown tint, making it difficult to
differentiate between dark colors such as dark blue and black .
Risk factors for the development of cataracts include aging,
certain diseases such as diabetes (which also causes diabetic
retinopathy), personal behavior such as smoking and alcohol
abuse, and environmental/professional factors such as exposure
to radiation or sunlight.
For instance, a study at the University of Iceland discovered
that commercial airline pilots have a 3-fold increase in
cataracts compared to non-pilots due to ionizing cosmic
radiation at high altitudes. This radiation is normally
filtered out by the atmosphere before reaching the earth. The
pilots developed nuclear cataracts, which occur in the
gelatinous interior of the lens, as opposed to cortical
cataracts, which occur in the front capsule of the lens and are
associated with UV light. The study recommended sunglasses to
filter sunlight in the cockpit as a precautionary measure to
prevent any synergistic effects of UV light, but offered no
solution to the basic problem of radiation exposure during
high-altitude flights.
Cataracts can be discovered in a routine eye exam, or after the
patient complains of symptoms such as cloudy or blurred vision,
poor color perception, glare and haloes around lights, poor
night vision, double vision, or frequent eyewear prescription
changes. Some of these symptoms can also be caused by diseases
other than cataracts.
In the early stages, the symptoms of cataracts may be relieved
by stronger eyeglasses, brighter lighting, anti-glare
sunglasses and magnifying lenses. However, if the cataract
formation progresses, it may interfere intolerably with
activities of everyday living. At this stage, surgery to remove
the clouded natural lens and replace it with a synthetic one is
the only effective treatment. Surgery relieves vision problems
in 90% of cataract patients; however, many elderly cataract
patients have other ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma or
age-related macular degeneration which also affect vision.
There are two different surgical procedures to remove
cataracts. In phacoemulsification, also called "small incision
cataract surgery", a small incision is made in the cornea, and
an ultrasonic probe is used to break up the diseased lens so it
can be removed by suction. Extracapsular surgery is more rarely
done, and in this case the surgeon makes a longer incision on
the side of the cornea and removes the core of the lens in one
piece before suctioning out the remaining pieces. Following
removal of the natural lens, an artificial lens, called an
intraocular lens (IOL), is inserted. The surgery is usually
done on an outpatient basis under local anaesthetic and
sedation.
Cataract surgery is usually safe, but complications such as
infection, bleeding and retinal detachement occur in a few
patients. Other co-existing eye disorders such as severe myopia
increase this risk. Retinal detachment is a medical emergency,
and can be ignored by the patient because it causes no pain. A
post-operative patient who has symptoms of "floaters" or light
flashes must be evaluated immediately for retinal detachment,
since early treatment can prevent loss of vision.
There are protective nutritional measures against cataracts
available to everyone. In a study on nutrition and disease
performed by the Harvard School of Public Health on 50,828
nurses, it was found that women taking vitamin C supplements of
250 to 500 mg daily for a decade or more decreased their odds of
developing cataracts requiring surgery by 45%. Vitamin A also
plays a role; the same study found that women with the highest
beta-carotene and vitamin A intakes lowered their risk by 39%.
In another study, taking 400 mg of vitamin E daily reduced
cataract formation by 50%, and in a related study, it was found
that people with the highest blood levels of vitamin E had half
the risk of developing cataracts as those with the lowest blood
levels. Lutein and zeaxanthin, found in vegetable such as
spinach and kale, are also said to be protective. Trace
minerals such as zinc and selenium are essential for the
function of anti-oxidant enzymes such as glutathione
peroxidase, and doctors often add these minerals to
eye-protective vitamin formulas.
About The Author: About cataracts by J Schipper
http://www.eye-surgery-now.info http://www.contactlens-now.info
http://www.youwillquit.com
http://www.life-extension-now.com
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