A cataract is a collection of thick, blurry tissue in the eye’s lens. The lens is created when proteins in the eye collect and obstruct the retina’s ability to receive clear images. The retina processes nerve signals from light that travels through the lens in order to function. It delivers messages that the brain receives from the optic nerve.
Over time, it worsens until it obstructs your eyesight. Although cataracts can develop in both of your eyes, they often do not do so at the same time. Cataracts frequently affect older adults. By the time they are 80 years old, more than half of Americans will either have cataracts or have had cataract surgery.
Symptoms
- Trouble seeing at night
- seeing colors as fading
- Higher sensitivity to light
- Lights that circle the halos
- Double vision in the affected eye.
- The need to regularly adjust prescription eyewear
Causes of Cataracts
Cataracts have a number of causes. These include:
- An excessive amount of oxidants, which are oxygen molecules that have been chemically altered due to normal habitation.
- Smoking
- Ultraviolet light
- The regular use of steroids and other medicines
- a few diseases, including diabetes
- Trauma
- Radiation treatment
Types of Cataracts
There are various cataract types. Depending on where and how they appear in your eye, they are classified into categories.
- Nucleus cataracts, develop in the center of the lens and cause the nucleus, or center, to cloud and turn yellow or brown.
- Posterior capsular cataracts, which damage the lens’s rear, grow faster than the other two varieties and have margins to the nucleus that resemble a wedge.
- Compared to age-related cataracts, newborn cataracts, which are present at birth or form during the course of a baby’s first year, are less prevalent.
- Secondary cataracts may be brought on by medication or sickness. Diabetes and glaucoma both have a connection to the development of cataracts. Employing other medications, including prednisone, occasionally causes cataracts.
READ MORE: