What is cataract?
A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye that results in blurred vision.
Cataracts can develop in one or both eyes at the same time.
The lens of your eye is made up of transparent tissue that focuses light on the retina, a layer of nerve cells that forms the back wall of the inside of the eye. Here, light is converted into nerve signals that transmit information to the brain.
While eye cataract surgery at an affordable price is a popular procedure, eye cataract is a common and even normal part of aging. According to statistics, its symptoms appear in many people at the age of 75-80: the lens begins to grow cloudy, and because of this, vision deteriorates, spots may appear in front of the eyes.
Most of the time, the appearance of cataracts is associated with aging, but there are also certain types of the condition that can develop during childhood or due to improper surgery, trauma, the use of certain medications, or other health problems.
Cataracts can progress over time, causing visual impairment that can interfere with your daily activities. To avoid the consequences, you need to treat cataracts with surgery.
Types of cataracts
The types of this disease can be divided into four groups depending on the causes of occurrence:
- Age – the most common, appears with aging.
- Congenital – Cataracts in infants and children can be caused by a number of different factors.
- Secondary – In adults, it can be caused by medical conditions such as diabetes or the use of drugs such as corticosteroids.
- Traumatic – Injury to one or both eyes can lead to cataracts. This can happen shortly after the accident or after several years.
The types of cataracts can also be classified according to the area of the lens damaged:
- Central is a clouding of the central part of your lens.
- Cortical – change in clarity at the edges of the lens. White spots and stripes appear and gradually spread towards the center.
- Posterior subcapsular – affects the posterior part of the lens. Causes blurred vision and often progresses faster than other types of cataracts.
Causes of cataract development and risk groups
Cataracts most often develop:
- in the elderly – age-related cataracts (90% of all cases of cataracts);
- in people after trauma – traumatic cataract (4%);
- after radiation exposure – radiation cataract (3%);
- in newborns – congenital cataracts (3%).
The lens of your eye is made up of protein and water. It is located at the back of the pupil and iris (the black and colored areas of the eye), which are covered by the cornea (the transparent outer layer of the eye).
The proteins in the lens are arranged in such a way that it itself remains transparent. But due to the changes that occur with age, these proteins can begin to thicken, resulting in blurred vision.
Over time, these protein clumps can grow in size, affecting your vision.
The risk of developing cataracts can be increased by a number of factors, including:
- Elderly age
- Heredity
- Greater exposure to sunlight
- High Altitude Accommodation
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Eye injury, inflammation, or surgery
- Upper body radiation treatments
- Smoking
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Long-term use of corticosteroid drugs
Sometimes congenital cataracts have genetic causes, or they can be caused by injury or infection. Conditions that can trigger them include:
- Myotonic dystrophy, a type of muscular dystrophy
- Galactosemia is a rare metabolic disorder
- Type 2 neurofibromatosis, a disorder in which tumors appear on nerve fibers
- Rubella sometimes called German measles
- Toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection
- Cytomegalovirus, viral infection
- Syphilis
- Herpes
Congenital cataracts do not always affect vision, but if they are, they are surgically removed soon after the diagnosis is made.
Cataract symptoms
It usually takes years for a cataract to develop, and it tends to appear at an older age. The lens gradually becomes cloudy.
Cataracts can make reading or driving difficult, especially at night. It also becomes more difficult to distinguish between faces.
It develops slowly, so most people don’t know they have it at first, but as the opacity progresses, vision gradually deteriorates.
People with cataracts may experience the following symptoms:
- Blurry, cloudy, or hazy vision
- Small spots or dots may appear in front of the eyes
- The patient sees small spots that blur part of the visual field
- Vision deteriorates in low light
- Vision is sometimes impaired in bright light
- Some people with cataracts also report that colors appear fuzzy and dull.
- Reading becomes difficult
- You need to change glasses more often
As vision deteriorates and glare from oncoming headlights and street lamps further aggravates the situation, driving becomes dangerous. Drivers with cataracts begin to experience eye strain and blink frequently.
Cataracts usually do not change the appearance of the eye. Any discomfort, such as irritation, pain, itching, or redness, is most likely caused by another eye condition.
Cataracts are not hazardous to human health or the eye. If it becomes overripe or “swollen”, complications may arise, such as: inflammation, increased intraocular pressure, etc. Headache and eye pain appear. In this case, an urgent need to treat cataracts.
