Maintaining a healthy body is really necessary to reduce the risk of various diseases, one of which is maintaining healthy eyes which is getting worse day by day, especially with increasing age, vision becomes blurry rapidly. One of the eye diseases that mostly affects the elderly is cataracts. So what causes of cataracts?
What is Cataract?
Cataract is a disease that occurs in the eye, this condition occurs due to clumps of protein in the lens of the eye which makes it cloudy and difficult for light to penetrate. This cataract can occur not only in one eye, but can also occur in both eyes.
At the beginning of the appearance of this cataract, usually the symptoms experienced are not so visible, but over time, your vision becomes increasingly blurry and can even lead to death. There are several signs and symptoms of cataracts that you can feel, including blurred vision, fading of colors around you, glare from cars light or the sun, double vision, and decreased vision at night.
Causes of Cataract
You need to know that there are several conditions that are not realized, it turns out to be the cause of this Cataract, some of which are:
1. Aging
It has been mentioned earlier that the older the age, the greater the risk of developing cataracts, this is due to the accumulation of dead skin cells and clumping proteins, as a result of which the previously clear vision becomes cloudy slowly and definitely interferes with vision.
2. Diabetes
Not only because of age, but having diabetes can also cause cataracts. Blood sugar levels that have increased for a long time can be the cause of the swelling of the eye lens.
3. Smoking habit
Smoking can not only interfere with lung health, but also has an adverse effect on eye health. As a result of smoking too often, the antioxidant reserves in the eye are decreasing and causing oxidation of the eye lens. Smoking can also be the cause of the accumulation of heavy metals in the lens of the eye, resulting in cataracts in the eye.
4. Physical trauma
In addition, when you have an injury due to impact or puncture in the area around the eye, the capsule that functions to cover the lens of the eye can be damaged, this causes swelling and the eye lens becomes cloudy.
5. Congenital
Apart from these factors, it turns out that there are cataracts that occur due to birth or known as congenital cataracts, usually these cataracts are formed before birth or it can also be during 1 year of the baby's life. In general, babies who suffer from cataracts will have difficulty controlling their eye movements properly.
6. Sun exposure
It turns out that exposure to sunlight, especially UV B rays that occur continuously over a long period of time can cause oxidation of the eye lens and trigger the formation of cataracts.
Cataract Prevention
Some of the causes of eye cataracts can actually be avoided by:
- healthy lifestyle
- consume lots of antioxidants
- keep the diet
- regularly exercise
- do not smoke
- avoid the causes of diabetes
If you have a history of diabetes, then the medicines prescribed by your doctor need to be taken regularly and you need to monitor your blood sugar regularly. Also, if you are traveling and will be in direct sunlight, be sure to wear a hat.
If you are not visually impaired, usually no treatment is needed, but if your vision worsens, you may need to undergo cataract surgery. That's some information related to cataracts that you need to know, hopefully it will be useful.
The sooner cataracts can be detected, the more appropriate treatment can be given. Therefore, make sure your eye health is maintained by regularly consulting an ophthalmologist.
Royal Progress Hospital has a team of ophthalmologists who can help deal with all eye complaints about cataracts, glaucoma, eye injuries, eye fatigue, children's eye disorders and others.
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