Best things to know about Cataracts
Cataract, or lens opacity, is a cloudy or opaque area in theeye'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, therisk of cataracts increases. Cataract may run in families butthe risks are increased by some factors such as smoking,exposure to other toxic substances, diabetes, and certainmedications, such as cortisone.Congenital cataracts may be inherited or they can be caused bythe infections of the mother during pregnancy, such as rubella. Adult cataracts are very often associated with aging and theydevelop slowly and painlessly. The visual acuity decreases, evenin daylight. Most people have cataracts after the age of 60. Itis well known the fact that almost 50% of the people aged 65-74have visually significant cataracts. In many cases, the cause ofthe cataracts remains unknown.The symptoms of the cataract can be the folowing: cloudy, fuzzy,foggy or film vision; loss of color intensity; frequent changesin eyeglass prescription; impare vision at night; halos aroundlights; double vision in one eye; decreased contrastsensitivity. If you think you might have cataracts, you shouldsee a doctor for an exam to find out for sure. You should makean appointment if you have symptoms such as progressivedeterioration of the vision, decreased night vision, or problemswith glare.The treatment of cataracts in the early stage can consist inonly 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 onlyefficient treatment is surgical removal. Through the cataractssurgery the lens of the eye is removed and replaced with anartificial one. Anyway, surgery is not necessary if the cataractis not bothersome.In most cases, cataract surgery has a low risk of complications.In some cases vision may not improve 20/20 after cataractsurgery if the patient suffer from other eye diseases, such asmacular degeneration. You can prevent cataracts by controllingassociated diseases and avoiding exposure to factors known toincrease the risk of cataracts. Also, wearing sunglasses thatfilter damaging UV helps you to prevent the cataract formation.For patients which are smokers, quitting will diminish the riskof cataracts.
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