December 13, 2007 by Kavit Haria
Prevent your eyes from getting a cataract early
One misconception about cataracts is that they only come about in old age. It is true that senile cataract, the most common type, is age-related, but people have to be aware that it can also start developing earlier on in an adult’s life.
But first, what exactly is a cataract?
A cataract is the clouding of the eye’s lenses that can cause vision problems, including blindness in very advanced cases. The lens is very close to the surface of the eye and is the part we use for focusing images and light in order to ‘see.’ Normal eye lenses are clear, watery substances that can change its shape as it focuses. A cataract can make the lenses more and more opaque, hindering proper transmission of light rays into the eyes.
Cataracts may affect one or both eyes, but it is not infectious as to spread from one eye to the other. The condition usually takes a long time to advance and is actually painless, but it gradually ruins eyesight to the point of affecting normal day-to-day activities. Common symptoms of a cataract are blurriness of sight, double vision, light sensitivity, seeing spots and glares, and constantly deteriorating eyesight that cannot be corrected by prescription glasses.
Cataract removal is necessary for cases with advanced symptoms. It is a simple surgical procedure that can be performed while the patient is awake, under local anesthesia. Basically, the damaged lens is removed and then replaced by an artificial one. This new plastic lens would then be permanent, and would help the patient regain good eyesight.
Those with mild cataracts may delay undergoing operation, at least until the condition starts getting in the way of their normal lifestyles. Until then, glasses and contact lenses ease minor loss of vision.
Cataracts are usually caused by changes in the eye’s lens, which in turn may be caused by the decrease in nutrients received by our eyes as we grow older. Younger people may also develop cataracts due to diabetes, eye injuries, exposure to the sun’s UV rays, or from taking certain medications for long periods of time. Smoking and drinking alcohol can likewise contribute to cataract growth, as these activities greatly increase free radicals in the body that can damage the lenses of the eyes.
Getting senile cataracts may be unavoidable, but we can at least try to keep your eyes healthy and cataract-free for as long as we can. The first trick is to live healthy. A nutritious diet rich in antioxidants such as vitamin E, as well as the natural substances called lutein and zeaxanthin, found in green leafy vegetables like spinach and collard greens, can help fight lens damage caused by free radicals. Likewise, avoiding cigarettes and alcohol can also lessen the risk of free-radical damage. Wearing UVA and UVB-protected sunglasses can also help shield your eyes from those harmful rays of the sun, and prevent the early onset of a cataract.
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A. Agoncillo says:
a friend told me that I may have cataract cause I have a light blue trim ? around the outer eye not the crystalline, is this a form of cataract? and if not what is it?
Thanks.
March 31, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Robin says:
Its also posseble that you get cataract with birth. In this case its something genetic and is easely given to the next genaration (50% that your kids get it to whan you have the by-birth type. I’m not sure about the number but the chanse is pritty big). Its pritty rare in comperence with the other cataract forms. Implanted lences are given as early as posseble in these cases (the lences are usualy already completely ruiend when the child leaves its mommies tummy
) and sometimes have to be replaced around the age of 16-18. (plastic doesn’t grow but your eyes do. Kids need new clothes when they grow too, right? 
) This depents on what kind of lense is inplanted in the eye. Its even posseble that the lence loosen with great and repeated chocks/viberations. (repeated falling and bumping your head are commen reasens). But I’ve heart only once of a case similer to that one.
To the guy above me. Go kontackt a dockter if you can see it yourself too. There are over the 100 eye problems that have colord lines around the eye as symtoms.
Wy I know this stuff? I’m one of those kids with the by-birth type. And I lost the lence in my right eye last summar. Its honestly no fun. And your eye(s) hurt after the operation.
(I’m sorry about my poor english, its my second language after all)
May 2, 2008 at 10:14 am
Janneke says:
hello,
i also have cataract. of ’staar’ as we call it in dutch, they found out when i was about 4 years old. now i’m 19, and this year they will operate my right eye, they did my left eye when i was 14.
me and my sister are the only one in our enture family.. no other siblings, parents, oncles, aunts, and so on, have it.. we are the only two..
so it is really genetic? and is the change very high that i can give it to my children later?
the operation is not so hard, your eye hurt for a while, but not so long, i rather have some day a little pain, than that i can’t see and drive me and my car against a tree..!! i think the pain is than lots and lots worse!
a also have to appologize for my englisch.. foreign laguages are not my best..
love, Janneke
May 16, 2008 at 11:42 am