They can start developing as soon as age 40.
Cataracts: They're likely a condition that you've got heard of but don't quite know much about-other than how they will cause you to lose your eyesight, which sounds extremely scary.
But actually, cataracts are surprisingly common. "Cataracts are like gray hair," Shameema Sikder, MD, an professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University's Wilmer Eye Institute and director of the middle of Excellence for Ophthalmic Surgical Education and Training, tells Health. "Sooner or later, they're going to happen to everyone," she adds-in fact, quite half Americans over 80 either have the attention cloudiness that defines cataracts, or have had surgery to urge obviate the difficulty, consistent with the National Eye Institute (NEI).
But that also doesn't explain exactly what cataracts are, and what causes them within the first place. To help, Health spoke to ophthalmologists to elucidate the condition, along side its symptoms and the way you'll best treat it. Here's what you would like to understand.
What exactly are cataracts?
Here's the super-simple definition: Cataracts are cloudiness inside the attention. Your doctor can check for them during a (painless) dilated eye exam. "The analogy i prefer to form is that the lens inside your eye is like an M&M," she says. "When we are born, the lens is kind of like this clear material and as we get older, it starts to urge hazy."
Usually, it's simply age that causes the cloudiness. Around age 40, proteins start to interrupt down and clump, making the lens denser-something you perceive as cloudy vision, consistent with the NEI.
Aside from age, your risk for cataracts also increases if you've got diabetes (and have out-of-control blood sugar), are a smoker, drink excess, have a case history of cataracts, suffer an eye fixed injury or trauma, spend tons of your time within the sun, or if you're taking steroids (for something like asthma, for example).
What are the symptoms of cataracts?
Usually, especially early, cataracts are symptom-free-but as they grow you would possibly notice blurry vision, muted colors (white might sound beige), an inability to ascertain also in the dark, a sense that lights are too bright (contrast sensitivity), seeing halos around lights, seeing double, otherwise you may need to vary your eye prescription frequently, consistent with the NEI.
Another potential sign: "As the lens becomes denser and loses its plasticity over time, we will not focus up close and that we start to wish reading glasses," Kendall E. Donaldson, MD, a professor of clinical ophthalmology and medical director of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Plantation, Florida, tells Health.
Patients also often complain of a glare. "People notice this driving in the dark due to oncoming headlights," says Dr. Sikder. This happens because a denser eye lens can cause light to be scattered because it enters your eye. Even still, others complain that they have more light to read since there's not the maximum amount light stepping into the attention, says Dr. Donaldson. "It's quite sort of a filter on a camera where less and fewer light gets in," he says.
Over time, and left untreated, cataracts can eventually cause total vision loss.
How are cataracts treated-and are you able to prevent them?
Treatment for cataracts depends on how advanced cataracts are-and whether or not you really want to treat them. Early on, small changes like using brighter lights or stronger reading glasses or wearing sunglasses can assist you manage cataracts.
But, if cataracts are becoming within the way of your day-to-day, the definitive treatment is cataract surgery (which is really one among the foremost commonly performed surgeries within the US, per the NEI). During the surgery, a doctor removes the cloudy lens and replaces it with a man-made one. "Often I'll tell patients that cataract surgery is essentially like we're cracking a circular opening within the candy shell, sucking out the chocolate, then inside that candy shell, implanting a replacement lens," says Dr. Sikder. The surgery is an outpatient procedure and takes about quarter-hour, she adds.
And while you cannot necessarily prevent cataracts, you'll protect your eyes, which, a minimum of will delay their onset. consistent with the NEI, wearing sunglasses and a brimmed hat to dam the sun, quitting smoking, eating healthy (hello, fruits and vegetables), and getting a dilated eye exam a minimum of once every two years once you hit 60, can assist you keep your eyes as healthy as possible.
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