Live Life Team
Cataracts are cloudy areas in lens inside the eye. Either eye can be infected, and sometimes both the eyes.
Normally, a clear lens permits light to reach the back of eye which causes sharp images. If the lens gets cloudy, light will not pass through cloudy patches. In due time, the patch becomes larger as it develops and lesser amount of light will pass through the lens which causes blurry vision. The cloudier the lens, the more the sight gets affected.
Cataracts are mostly found in elderly people. These are known as age-related cataracts. Rarely, infants have cataracts when born.
Causes
As people age, there may be protein changes in the lens of the eye. These changes lead to cloudy development in the eye.
Risk factors include
Family history of cataracts.
Lifestyle factors like poor diet.
Smoking.
Overexposure of eye to the sunlight.
Taking steroids over a long period.
Sometimes diabetes, injury to the eye, and conditions like uveitis or inflammation in the uveal tract can cause cataract.
See your optometrist or general practitioner if you have difficulties with the vision. They will use an instrument known as the ophthalmoscope and bright light in the eye and see inside it. Cataract if present will be visible. It will also show the extent of cataract in the eye.
Treatment
Treatment will not be required if:
There are no symptoms.
Sight is only lightly affected.
In early cataract stages, vision can be enhanced with the aid of stronger glasses or bright light. This may not last long as the cataract grows. If the cataract is too severe, surgery is required to treat them.
Cataracts can be treated if they interfere with the daily activities like driving, reading, and working, watching television, or taking care of one’s self.
Cataracts can be surgically removed. In most of the cases, an artificial clear plastic lens is put in place instead of natural lens. This is also called intraocular lens or intraocular implant. Most common surgery done in cataracts is called phacoemulsification. It is also known as phaco extracapsular extraction. Cataracts are not treated by using laser surgery.
Complications of cataracts are that if they are not treated for a long time and it becomes very cloudy, the vision might be affected to the point of causing blindness.
Prevention
Cataracts cannot be prevented. Nevertheless, some steps to reduce risk are:
Smoking cessation.
Protecting the eye from sunlight. Use a hat or sunglasses.
Poor diet could add to the risk. A balanced diet could delay build up of age-related cataracts.
Cautions
After Cataract Surgery
Natural lens has the ability to adjust and change shape. This enables the eye to see objects which are near or farther away. Monofocal or multifocal plastic lenses will not be able to do this. Hence, it will help to keep reading glasses and distant-vision glasses by your side. You also get accommodating lens which helps the eye in seeing distant and near objects.
