Cataracts No Longer Mean Loss of Sight

georgelarson | Apr 30, 2010 |

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Cataracts can be devastating for individuals afflicted by this illness. The world and all its contrasts and colors hazes over and becomes obscure. Without clear vision driving a car can be dangerous for them and other motorists on the road. Reading the prescription on a bottle of medicine becomes discouraging when the words blur out. Their blurry world surrounds them as the cataract spreads over the eye.

Cataracts are made up of proteins in the eye that grow together and create a 'smudge' that is looked through. This area begins to grow to the point where vision in that eye is distorted. The three types of cataracts differ by what causes them. Nuclear cataract is part of aging and is mostly natural. Diabetes, as well as farsightedness, forms a cataract in the back of the eye. The third type of cataract is called cortical. This type of cataract begins in the center of the eye and extends out, like the spokes of a bike.

There are currently two choices in dealing with cataracts if just living with them is not acceptable. The first is to get glasses with a stronger prescription. This 'fix' is just temporary fix since the cataract will overcome the new prescription. The second alternative is through surgery. The doctor will remove the old, damaged natural lens and replace it with an artificial lens. The odds for great improvement are high and it is a relatively easy procedure.

One hundred years ago, there was no choice when our vision failed. Advances in the health field have made restoring sight to a cataract sufferer a reality. It marks an achievement that man no longer has to sit idly by while disease ravages the body and limits mobility. If an artificial lens now can do so much, just think about what the future holds.