Cataract is a painless, cloudy area in the lens of the eye that prevents the passage of light to the retina, the nerve layer at the back of the eye. The nerve cells in the retina by detecting light entry and sending nerve signals to the brain, maintains the vision. Cataracts block this light, causing vision problems.

Cataracts are caused due to aging and exposure to sunlight. Aging has a big role in causing changes in your eyes. But they do not always cause cataracts.

Eye injury, or any sort of eye disease caused after the usage of certain medicines Cataracts can also happen after an eye injury, as a result of eye disease, after you use can cause cataracts. In some cases, diabetes also paves way for cataract. Some children are born with cataracts. Cataracts affect the vision by making it cloudy, fuzzy, or foggy. It may cause trouble in driving at night because of glare from car headlights.

A person affected by cataract may need to change the eyeglasses frequently. It may even cause double vision in one eye. There are chances of near vision getting improved for a short time which is called second sight. Cataracts sometimes do not cause vision problems.

Cataracts could be diagnosed by the doctor by doing a physical exam and by asking questions about the symptoms and past health. Of course, additional medical check-ups may be required top confirm this. Cataract could be treated by surgery, but in older adults that could not be always removed. The vision loss from a cataract usually happens slowly and may never become severe.

The vision problems caused by cataracts could be managed by eyeglasses, contacts, or other vision aids. Also by keeping plenty of lighting in the home, a surgery can be avoided. Cataracts cannot be avoided maximum. But the growth rate could be slowed with efforts. By eating healthy foods keeping diabetes under control, we can reduce the effect of cataract.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 21st, 2008 at 8:30 am and is filed under Eye. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.