Cataract Update by Becky Sisk

Cataract Awareness

Contact Email Address: rsisk@mtco.com

Category: Health & Fitness

Word Count: 570 words

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Cataract Awareness

by Becky Sisk, PhD

c) 2002

Cataracts are a common cause of vision loss but are easily

treated by a qualified ophthalmologist. August is Cataract

Awareness Month, a reminder that cataract surgery can clear

up your eyesight and improve your quality of life.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, half of

the people between age 52 and 64, and almost everyone over the

age of 75, will have a cataract. Another way to look at it

is that one in seven people in the United States has a cataract.

What Is a Cataract?

A cataract is a clouding in the lens of your eye. The

onset of the condition is slow and usually related to aging.

Other causes are congenital birth defects, alcoholism, diabetes

mellitus, eye injury, smoking, and long-time exposure to

ultra-violet (UV) light.

How Would I Know If I Had a Cataract?

Visual problems are not apparent in the beginning stages of

a cataract. When they appear, you may have the following

symptoms:

* A gradual blurring of your eyesight.

* Poor distance vision.

* A fading or yellowing of colors.

* Double vision in the affected eye.

* A heightened sensitivity to light.

* Trouble seeing well enough to drive at night.

* Frequent need for changes in eyeglass prescriptions.

How Are Cataracts Treated?

At the onset of cataracts, high magnification glasses may

improve vision, but there are no medications or eye-drops that

will help. Some people think that a cataract needs to be "ripe"

before it can be removed, but this is not true. Instead,

cataracts are removed when they interfere with normal

activities of daily living.

Ophthalmic surgeons remove cataracts under local anesthesia

in the outpatient area of a hospital or in special, stand-alone

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BIO:

Becky Sisk is owner and webmaster of NurseScribe, http://www.eNurseScribe.com/.

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