Cataracts (cataracts) – causes, symptoms, types, treatment

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Cataracts, or cataracts, are clouding of the lens of the eye. It is the result of a metabolic disorder of the lens and loss of its clarity, and can lead to complete loss of vision. The most common cataract is senile cataract, which usually appears after the age of 50. The disease may be congenital or acquired.

The main cause of cataracts is aging and the accompanying metabolic disorders. Cataracts can also occur in younger people who struggle with, for example, myopia or diabetes. Cataracts can be congenital or acquired.

Frequency of appearance

As reported by the World Health Organization, cataracts are the leading cause of visual impairment. Cataract surgery is the most common ophthalmic surgery. In Poland, about three thousand of them are performed per million inhabitants. In the EU and North America countries, cataract surgery maintains more than 6 operations per year.

AN OLD CLARITY

There are several types of senile cataracts, which are determined by the location of the cloudiness in the lens. It could be cataracts:

1. cortical – clouding is localized in the surface layers of the lens, in addition to visual acuity disturbed, double vision may also appear;
2. subcapsular and cranial – slow clouding of the posterior lens capsule, the symptoms are quite intense and there is a fission of light and the associated glare, making it difficult to perform certain activities
3. nuclear – cloudiness is located in the nucleus of the lens, it progresses slowly and does not affect visual acuity, but leads to myopia.

In the course of senile cataracts, visual acuity is reduced both from close and far. Moreover, this defect cannot be corrected with glasses. Based on the degree of turbidity, we can divide senile cataracts into the initial form (initial cataract)in which the turbidity is just beginning, and the figure mature (total cataract)opacity covers the entire lens. The further stages of mature cataract development may turn into an overripe cataract, in which the lens is completely destroyed due to the spread of its mass and shrinkage.

Senile cataract – symptoms

Senile cataracts appear most often with age (occurs around the age of 50) and can lead to changes in both eyes, although their progress may vary. The symptoms of the disease include:

1. visual disturbances, which are characterized by cloudy and unclear images, and even complete loss of vision;
2. when enlarging the lens eclipse, visual acuity decreases more and more until the feeling of light;
3. the possibility of observing with the naked eye the change in the color of the pupil from black to gray-white when the lens becomes cloudy.

Diagnosis of senile cataracts

The diagnosis of senile cataracts is based on a slit lamp examination of the eye. Before that, the doctor gives a pharmacological agent to dilate the pupil, and then a white pupil is diagnosed, which results from a cloudy lens.

Sufficient cataracts – treatment

Age cataract (early diagnosed) is treated with anti-cataract agents, which are applied to the eyeballs in the form of drops. If the clouding covers the entire lens, surgery is required. After removing the cataract, it is necessary to use strong focusing glasses to replace the removed lens. You can also wear contact lenses. Increasingly, patients decide to insert a lens prosthesis. You can buy cataract treatment now on Medonet Market.

Congenital cataract

Congenital cataract is a condition that appears at birth or develops in the first years of life. The causes of complete or partial opacification of the lens can be various metabolic or chromosomal abnormalities, and even exposure of the fetus to certain drugs in the womb.

Types of congenital cataracts

1. nuclear cataract – clouding is located in the central part of the lens;
2. total cataract – located on the entire lens and, like the nuclear cataract, requires surgical treatment;
3. membranous cataract – appears due to the interrupted continuity of the lens capsule;
4. anterior and posterior polar cataracts – the opacities are located in the posterior and anterior capsule;
5. anterior and posterior capsular cataracts – located in the anterior or posterior capsule,
6. Layered cataract – the most common type of cataract, in which the opacity is located in the nucleus of the lens located on the periphery, affects the central part of the lens to a small extent, and vision is partially impaired.

Congenital cataract – causes and symptoms

Congenital cataracts may result from abnormalities in the development of the eye in the first few months of gestation. The reasons may be:

1. mother’s diseases during this period of pregnancy, mainly viral infections (rubella, infectious jaundice, flu),
2. genetics (hereditary and family conditions).

Congenital cataract develops in one or both eyes, and may be asymptomatic for a long time, apart from visual disturbances. Sometimes you can see a gray pupil. In some children, there is nystagmus or the oculo-finger reflex, which consists in the tendency to press the eye frequently with fists or fingers. When a toddler learns to walk, he usually moves poorly, does not recognize his surroundings and puts various objects to his eyes so that he can get a better look at them. Congenital cataracts may increase in size over the years and sometimes do not appear until school age.

Congenital cataract – treatment

The treatment of congenital cataracts is only operative. If the cataracts are extensive and occur in both eyes, surgery is performed as early as possible, preferably in the first days / weeks of life, for the child to develop properly.

Confusing cataract

Cataracts can also arise from various eye ailments:

1. inflammation,
2. glaucoma,
3. retinal detachment.
4. some general diseases, e.g. diabetes (diabetic cataract develops very rapidly in young patients, leading to severe eye damage).

Confusing cataract – treatment

Only surgical treatment of complicated cataracts is performed.

Cataract surgery can only be performed once, just as an artificial lens is implanted in the eye once and for all. There are some postoperative complications (rarely) that can be life threatening, e.g. intraocular haemorrhage.

In some group of patients, after surgery, partial clouding of the posterior lens capsule may appear. Then the patient has a blurry vision as at the beginning of a cataract, but it can be cured with a laser, which makes a hole in the cloudy purse. Thanks to this, postoperative visual acuity is restored.

After cataract surgery, the patient undergoes a follow-up examination on the first day after surgery. Patients should also take antibiotic and steroid eye drops for about 4 weeks after surgery. Physical exertion should be avoided for up to three months after the procedure.

Cataract surgery is offered by the specialized Eyemed clinic. Before the surgery is performed, you will need a qualification for the procedure, which you can buy here.