Cataract, Myths, Facts and Treatment

“Of all the senses, sight must be most beautiful” – Helen Keller

What is Cataract?

There is no doubt that life without eyesight is quite intricate. There are number of things which can affect healthy eyesight, which leads to unnecessary complications in the life. Proper care is one way you can avoid getting this precious gift of god safe from perilous factors which can harm the vision. Crystalline lens which is present in our eyes, works to focus on things at varying distances. As we age, this lens becomes stiff and hardens to some extent, losing its ability to focus and creating sight issues without its youthful adaptability. With these changes occurring in the natural crystalline lens with passing time, it can possibly lead to cataracts, which is clouding of the lens inside the eye causing loss in clarity of the lens and therefore losing its power to focus light properly.

What are its causes and its symptoms?

Apart from aging and dying of the cells, there are several other reasons which can lead to Cataracts. The reasons include eye injuries, certain medications such as corticosteroids and diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and poor nutrition are known to increase the risk of development of Cataract. This intensified opacity in the lens due to deposition of yellow-brown pigment and this together with disruption of the lens fibers obstructs the light from passing and being focused on the retina at the back side of the eye. Now talking about symptoms of Cataracts, it is perhaps undetectable at the very early stage.

To be on safe side, one should be concerned about any conspicuous changes in the vision. If any anomaly is suspected, it should be immediately brought to the eye care professional’s attention. Common symptoms of cataracts include – cloudy or blurred vision, sensitivity to light and glare, poor night vision, color vision changes and dimming, double vision in a single eye etc.

What are the myths related to Cataracts?

There are numerous myths and practices regarding Cataracts which should be rectified in the minds of people. These are as follows-

1. ‘Activities which are done close to eyes can deteriorate cataracts’ – But fact is that this is a misconception which arrived because the symptoms of cataracts are more visible while doing close-up work.
2. ‘Cataracts are reversible’ – Unfortunately, the cataract is unavoidable.
3. ‘Cataract surgery recovery takes a long time’ – You can get back to normal activities the day after surgery when the eye patch is removed.

What is the treatment for Cataracts?

There can be two ways it can be treated. If it is not major, eye peripherals can be used to correct the minor vision dizziness. Other is the most used and known, surgical treatment for removal of cataract.

Article: Cataract, Myths, Facts and Treatment
Author: Dr Abhishek Goel   |   Nov 21 2014 | UPDATED 04:40 IST

*The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his privat ecapacity and do not in any way represent the views of Centre for Sight.