Picture looking through a foggy window or a smudged camera lens or driving at night and struggling to see the road ahead: that is what it is like to live with cataracts; the world becomes a little blurrier, a little less vibrant. Cataracts are like a gradual curtain of cloudiness that descends on the eyes, affecting daily lives in ways big and small. But with the appropriate treatment, you can lift that curtain and regain clear, vibrant vision.
WHAT IS CATARACT?
A cataract happens when the crystalline lens in the eyes is cloudy.
WHAT IS THE CRYSTALLINE LENS?
The lens of your eye is made up of structural proteins called crystalline; this is why it is sometimes called the “crystalline lens.” It has the highest concentration of proteins than almost any tissue in your body.
These specialized proteins give the lens its transparency, focusing power and the ability to change shapes (compresses and stretches out) depending on what one is trying to focus on, either distance or near.
If that structure(crystalline lens) begins to lose clarity, it will prevent light from entering the eyes, thus reducing our ability to see objects.
WHAT CAUSES CATARACT?
In order words, what makes that crystal-clear structure lose its transparency?
Generally, the eye lenses are mostly made up of water and proteins arranged in a fine, orderly manner. The finely arranged protein structures give the lens transparency. If those finely arranged proteins are distorted, the lens will lose clarity.
So, the following can cause cataract formation.
- Old age.
- Uncontrolled diabetes
- Drug (steroids) abuse
- Traumas to the eye.
- Eye Surgery
- Radiation treatment to your upper body.
- Been under the sun without eye protection, like sunglasses.
- Smoking of Cigarettes
- Staying in an area with polluted air
- Using alcohol heavily
- Genetics: family history of Cataract.
And so on.
We hope this is clear; if you have any questions, please contact us at TREETOP VISION EYE CENTRE (TREVEC), the best eye clinic in Utako, Abuja.
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