What Is A cataract?
A cataract is a thick, cloudy area that appears in the lens of the eye. A cataract occurs when protein in the eye form clumps that block the lens from sending a clear image to the retina. The retina works by changing the light that comes through the lens into signals. It sends the signs to the optic nerve, which transports them to the brain.
It develops gradually and eventually interferes with your vision. You might finish up with cataracts in both eyes, but they usually don’t format at a similar time. Cataracts are obvious in older people. At first, stronger lighting and eyeglasses can support you deal with cataracts. But If diminished vision interferes with your usual activities, you might necessitate cataract surgery. Fortunately, cataract surgery is usually a safe, effective procedure.
Causes
Most cataracts occur when aging or injury changes the tissue that makes up your eye’s lens. Some inherited genetic disorders that affect other health problems can increase your risk of cataracts. Cataracts can also be precipitated by other eye conditions, past eye surgery, or medical conditions such as diabetes. Long-term usage of steroid medications, too, can causes
How A Cataract forms
The lens, where cataracts form, is positioned back the colored part of your eye. The lens focuses light that crosses into your eye, producing clear, sharp images on the retina. The light-sensitive membrane in the eye works like the film in a camera.
As you age, the lenses in your eyes become less flexible, less transparent, and more abundant. Age-related and other medical conditions cause tissues within the lens to break down and clump commonly, clouding small areas inside the lens.
As the cataract remains to develop, the clouding becomes denser and involves a more important part of the lens. A cataract scatters and stops the light as it moves through the lens, preventing a sharply defined image from reaching your retina. As a conclusion, your vision becomes blurred.
Cataracts commonly develop in both eyes, but not evenly. The cataract in one eye may be more unconventional than the other, causing a difference in vision between eyes.
What Can Be The Preventive Measures
The most reliable way to prevent cataracts naturally, without surgery, is to implement positive lifestyle changes, such as:
Eat Right
Food plays a vital role in assisting you to achieve optimal eye health. Tuning your dietary habits can go a long way in securing your eyes remain healthy and functional for as long as possible. Foods including lutein and zeaxanthin are also known to be significant for eye health as they contain carotenoids also found in the lens of your eyes. These include eggs, collard greens, turnip greens, and corn, offering reassurance not only against cataracts but macular degeneration as well. It’s not only about what to add to your diet that works for the protection of your eyes and vision, but also what you eliminate from your diet. so, make sure to stay away from the likes of white sugar and its processed replacements like high fructose corn syrup. Such sugar-rich foods are known to arouse cataract growth.
Hydrate Appropriately
Perhaps, hydration remains one of the several underrated factors that can have a consequence on the progression of cataracts in a person. That’s why health professionals suggest appropriate hydration and failure in doing so can result in the collection of harmful body toxins capable of inflicting health issues in general, and eye health problems in particular, cataracts being one of them. Ample water intake improves our body’s flush out harmful toxins with much ease. So, you better receive the habit of drinking water frequently at regular intervals.
Avoid Smoking
Almost everyone understands the harmful effects of smoking on the heart and lungs, but ironically the majority of people fail to understand the risks smoking brings to the eyes, including cataracts. More free radicals are produced within your eyes when you smoke. These are the harmful chemicals issued due to different processes taking place in the body and when you smoke, more free radicals are produced in your eyes. When you smoke extremely, good chemicals in your body are consumed profoundly, the production of dangerous toxins that can also cause cataracts. So, when you stopped smoking, you are improving your chances of preventing cataracts from affecting your eyes.
Get Regular Eye Exams
The importance of a comprehensive eye exam can never be overstated, particularly if you are aged between 40 and 64, reforming the exam every 2 to 4 years, ideally. In case you are aged 65 and above, get the exam each 1 to 2 years.
