Best things to know about Cataracts
Cataract, or lens opacity, is a cloudy or opaque area in the
eye's natural lens, which lies between th iris and the pupil.
The lens of the eye is normally clear, but if it becomes cloudy,
the condition is known as cataract. In very rare cases,
cataracts may be present at birth or very soon after birth.
These are called congenital cataracts. As people are aging, the
risk of cataracts increases. Cataract may run in families but
the risks are increased by some factors such as smoking,
exposure to other toxic substances, diabetes, and certain
medications, such as cortisone.
Congenital cataracts may be inherited or they can be caused by
the infections of the mother during pregnancy, such as rubella.
Adult cataracts are very often associated with aging and they
develop slowly and painlessly. The visual acuity decreases, even
in daylight. Most people have cataracts after the age of 60. It
is well known the fact that almost 50% of the people aged 65-74
have visually significant cataracts. In many cases, the cause of
the cataracts remains unknown.
The symptoms of the cataract can be the folowing: cloudy, fuzzy,
foggy or film vision; loss of color intensity; frequent changes
in eyeglass prescription; impare vision at night; halos around
lights; double vision in one eye; decreased contrast
sensitivity. If you think you might have cataracts, you should
see a doctor for an exam to find out for sure. You should make
an appointment if you have symptoms such as progressive
deterioration of the vision, decreased night vision, or problems
with glare.
The treatment of cataracts in the early stage can consist in
only using new glasses, strong bifocals, magnification,
appropriate lighting or other visual aids. For severe cataracts,
when the patient cannot see well enough with glasses, the only
efficient treatment is surgical removal. Through the cataracts
surgery the lens of the eye is removed and replaced with an
artificial one. Anyway, surgery is not necessary if the cataract
is not bothersome.
In most cases, cataract surgery has a low risk of complications.
In some cases vision may not improve 20/20 after cataract
surgery if the patient suffer from other eye diseases, such as
macular degeneration. You can prevent cataracts by controlling
associated diseases and avoiding exposure to factors known to
increase the risk of cataracts. Also, wearing sunglasses that
filter damaging UV helps you to prevent the cataract formation.
For patients which are smokers, quitting will diminish the risk
of cataracts.