Cataract is a huge eye problem in ageing people. Mostly cataract is related to ageing and the problem of cataract vision can be found commonly in American people ageing more than 80 years of age.Cataract is an eye problem when the clouding of the eye lens disturbs a clear vision. Cataract can occur in single or both eyes. Cataract can’t spread from one eye to the other. The lens of the eyes must be clear to provide a clear image when the lenses of the eyes are cloudy then it can cause blurred images.
The signs and symptoms of cataract:
- The most common symptoms of cataract are:
- Blurry vision or cloudy vision
- Colourful things seem faded
- Very poor night vision
- The glare and headlight seem unbearable
- Appearance of halo around the light
- Multiple images in one eye
- Very frequent changes of eyeglasses or lens number etc.
If you have any of these problems, then visit your eye care specialist immediately as the eye other problems can also produce similar symptoms to cataract.
Causes of Cataract Vision:
To understand the cause of cataract, you have to be familiar with different important eye parts and know how they function also. Our eyes have lenses that lie just behind iris and pupil. The lenses are used to focus the light coming from the outside environment into the eyes and focus it on the retina that then helps to form the perfect image of the object.
The lenses are made of protein and water. The protein in the eye lens is arranged in such a way that it makes a clear lens refract the light inside the eyes onto the retina. But due to many factors the protein alignment in the lens gets disturbed and a cloudy lens is formed. The clumped protein if the lens mostly occurs due to ageing, common wear and tear, smoking and diabetes, etc.
Biggest risk factors to have cataracts:
There are various reasons to acquire cataract vision and to say that it is an age related problem is a little bit misguiding. It is not that younger people cannot have this problem; even 40-year-olds can have cataract eyes, but it is the ageing eyes that are the most common victims of cataract eye.
Following people are at a risk of having cataract eye:
- People having certain diseases like diabetes can acquire diabetes
- People having a habit to smoke and take liquor more frequently
- People who are in continuous exposure to sunlight harmful UV rays etc.
Cataract affects the vision:
The cataract can occur in two ways and affect the eyes:
- Cataract is the case when the protein assembly of the eye lens clumps together to form cloudiness of the lens. The cloudiness of the lens is not generated suddenly, but it grows eventually with ageing. The clump of the eye lens can begin as a small dot, but later it can grow as you age to cover your eyelids completely. With the bigger clouded area, the vision is hampered to a great extent and the person with cataract eye get only to see a duller and blurred image.
- The eye lens may start changing the colour and they may gradually grow into a yellowish and brownish colour. As the time increases the colour may spread in the whole eye lens part and you are not able to see the things clearly.
If you get too much discoloration of the lens, then you might not be able to view the colour of blues and purples as you might be seeing them all as black socks.
Also Read: Eye colour also reveals health risks
Things to do to prevent cataract vision:
You can do a lot to prevent to cataracts eye vision loss. A few of the common tips given to prevent cataract vision are:
- Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes whenever you venture out in the sun
- You can also opt for wide brim hats to protect your eyes from the harmful UV rays of the sun
- Stop smoking immediately if you smoke
- Include a rich, nutritious diet in your meals by opting for green leafy vegetables, fruits and good protein rich food items
- If you are above 60 years of age, then you must ensure that you undergo a dilated comprehensive eye test to check your vision once in 2 years.
- Also, go for regular body checkup to identify the presence of any other health problems like diabetes, glaucoma or macular degeneration, etc.
Also Read: Know about the possible eye disease symptoms
