Cataracts are a disease of the lens of the
eye. This increasingly loses its elasticity and hardens. It becomes
cloudy and the person concerned perceives the environment as if through a veil
of fog. Cataracts are very common in older people and is not with
the Green Star to be confused (glaucoma).
Description: where does the name come from?
The term "cataract" comes from the Greek
language and means "waterfall". It refers to the white
coloration in the pupil that occurs in the advanced stages of the disease and
is reminiscent of the light foam layer of a waterfall. The term
"cataract" has nothing to do with a songbird, but arose because those
affected used to get a stare when they went blind as a result of the eye disease.
frequency
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness . In Germany, more than 700,000
affected people undergo an operation every year. Between the ages of 52
and 64, 50 percent develop cataracts, and between 65 and 75 years, over 90
percent are affected, reports the Federal Association of Ophthalmologists.
Causes: how does cataract develop?
The lens of the eye (lens oculi) has two important
properties: It is elastic and can therefore be deformed by the small muscles of
the eye, and it is crystal clear. Their job is to break the light that
enters the eye through the pupil. This creates a sharp image on the
retina. The deformability of the lens and the fluid that surrounds it make
it possible to see sharply up close and into the distance. The human eye
lens is a so-called converging lens because it projects the light in a focused
manner onto the retina.
Chemically, the lens mainly of proteins and water,
the other substances are enzymes, antioxidants and vitamin C . These
layers of fabric lie close together and make the lens appear transparent.
The structural proteins in the lens and the composition of the lens fluid can
be affected by various factors. As the lens loses its elasticity, it
hardens and becomes cloudy. As a result, the ability to see clearly
decreases. Because the incident light can no longer penetrate the lens
without restriction and is also scattered. Clear images no longer appear
on the retina and sensitivity to glare increases - these are the typical
symptoms of cataracts.
What are the risk factors that trigger a cataract?
Basically, ophthalmologists subdivide acquired and
congenital cataracts:
Acquired cataracts
Age: To a
certain extent, clouding of the lens is part of the natural aging
process. In most people, cataracts break out from the age of 60 - the so-called
gray old age star (Kataracta senilis) makes up over 90 percent of these eye
diseases.
In the course of life, the elasticity of the lens
of the eye generally decreases, and it is also common for the composition of
the fluid that surrounds the eye to change. This can happen because
proteins clump together and interfere with the refraction of incident light, or
because all cells in the eye are no longer supplied with the correct amount of
water. This also influences the refraction of light and leads to a
clouding of the lens.
UV radiation: The lens of
the eye also takes on the task of absorbing UV radiation in order to protect
the sensitive retina. Only about one to two percent of UVA and UVB rays
reach the retina. However, if it is exposed to strong UV radiation for a
long time, this can lead to a change in the proteins in the lens - it becomes
cloudy. In equatorial regions, where UV radiation is particularly strong,
cataracts occur more frequently and even in younger years.
Diabetes : Diabetics
have an increased sugar content in the eye water. The small sugar
components (glucose) accumulate in the lens and bind liquid. This leads to
lens swelling. Diabetics can therefore be affected by the so-called sugar
star at a young age.
Injuries: Various
injuries to the eye can also lead to a cataract. These include
severe bruising of the eyeball, for example from a punch, a
stab wound that damages the lens, or a foreign body that penetrates deep into
the organ of vision.
Other causes: In addition,
a cataract can occur as a concomitant disease of neurodermatitis or Wilson's disease (copper storage
disease), caused by metabolic disorders as a result of blood washing
(dialysis), by severe ametropia ( myopia), are caused by
malnutrition, develop as a result of intense infrared light or X-rays or the
use of certain medications (e.g. cortisone, steroids) or are caused by heavy
alcohol or nicotine consumption. The substances in tobacco also get into
the eye and can trigger biochemical changes in the lens, which in turn cause
clouding. Anyone who smokes more than 15 cigarettes a day has a 42 percent
higher risk of developing a cataract that requires surgery than a non-smoker,
according to a study by the university clinic in Örebrö, Sweden.
Congenital cataracts
Even children can have a cataract (known as a
child's cataract). This can already be present at birth - one in 15,000
babies is born with a cataract - or it can arise in the first few years of
life. Two thirds of the children affected suffer from cataracts on both
sides. In about half of these bilateral cataracts, there is no
identifiable cause, doctors call this idiopathic. However, there are a few
factors that can trigger the eye disease:
Damage during pregnancy: If the fetus is damaged during pregnancy ,
for example due to an infectious disease in the mother ( rubella , Eppstein-Barr virus, varicella-zoster virus)
or if she has taken certain medications, the newborn can already have a
Cataracts may be affected.
Genetic causes: A
genetic disease such as Alport syndrome, Lowe syndrome or Turner syndrome can
cause cataracts in the child. Insufficient eye maturation in premature
babies can also be the cause.
Metabolic diseases: Metabolic
disorders such as galactosemia (hereditary enzyme deficiency), hypocalcemia or diabetes mellitus in the mother can also trigger
cataracts in children.
Symptoms: what symptoms does cataracts cause?
Cataracts causes the len of the eye to become
cloudy. As a result, the incident light is refracted diffusely in the
eye. Affected people no longer see contours clearly, but rather like
through a fog or a pane of frosted glass, they perceive a glow around objects
and spatial vision is restricted. Many sufferers can no longer see clearly
near and far. Double vision can also occur. In addition, the
turbidity increases the sensitivity to glare. The eye is becoming
increasingly sensitive to direct light, and glowing headlights are very
dazzling at night. A first indication that a person is suffering from
cataracts is when they develop severe vision problems while driving a car in
the evening or in poor weather conditions.
Siegfried Priglinger ,
Medical Director of the Eye Clinic at the Ludwig Maximilians University in
Munich, explains in the video which typical symptoms can be
used to recognize cataracts, the causes behind the
disease and how you can slow down the progression .
swell
Cataracts occur in different degrees of severity,
which is why the symptoms are different in those affected. The symptoms
also develop insidiously and only when the sense of sight is impaired, the
disease is noticed by the person concerned. In the advanced stage, the
gray color of the lens is clearly visible from the outside and blindness can
occur.
Diagnosis: how is cataract diagnosed?
Cataracts can be diagnosed at an early stage during
an ophthalmological examination without the patient already feeling any
discomfort. The ophthalmologist uses a slit lamp for this, with which he
can look closely at the outer eye and the lens. The pupils are usually
dilated with eye drops before the examination. This allows the doctor to
discover the first external signs such as white and radial dots and cloudiness.
In the very advanced stage of cataracts, the lens
opacity is already recognizable at first glance. The doctor will then use
further tests to check how much the eyesight is impaired and whether the
patient has any other eye diseases.
In order to detect an eye disease in children at an
early stage, the U2, the second pediatrician examination, checks whether an
infant has a cataract. In the case of a toddler, parents should also pay
attention to whether lens opacification is noticeable or whether the offspring
is very sensitive to blinding light.
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