Preventing Cataracts

By Author: Dr. Victor Marchione
Total Articles: 90
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Do you feel some days that you are looking out at the world through a blurry window? If that’s what your eyesight is like all the time, you may have a “cataract.”
Cataracts cause a sort of smeared or tinted vision that can affect your ability to see and to do things. In some cases, cataracts can progress to the point where they cause blindness, but for most folks, they are a major nuisance.
Older adults are most likely to suffer from this condition. In fact, cataracts have become the leading vision problem in America. There are over 1.2 million Americans suffering from this condition every year. With that in mind, here are some steps that you can take to protect your eyes and reduce your risk of getting cataracts.

How a Cataract Forms
Cataracts are a result of protein clumping up in the eye’s lens, reducing the amount of light that reaches the retina. You can get a cataract in one or both eyes, but this condition isn’t contagious.
Almost everyone will develop a cataract at some point, and many people consider them a normal part ...
... of aging. You can get them at age 60 or not until you are 90, but they are likely to happen at some point if you live long enough. Luckily, you can slow how fast these deposits occur, reducing your risk of suffering a cataract until you are much, much older.

Taking Stock: Do You Have a Cataract?
Are you uncertain if you are suffering from a cataract? Well, here’s a rundown of the symptoms that you’re likely to experience.
The main symptom of a cataract is a brownish tint to your vision. This is because of the way that light hits the eye in a cataract. The lens in your eye is clear at first, but it colors with age. In the end, this can cause everything you see to have a sort of brownish color.
There are other symptoms that may occur with cataracts. Colors may appear faded, and there may be more of a glare off of your vision as if you are looking through glasses. You may also have to change your glasses prescription often, notice an increased sensitivity to all forms of light, start seeing double or have difficulty seeing at night.
Cataracts are a gradual process that may not be noticed for a long period of time. Eventually, the protein disrupts the eye and then there’s no avoiding that there’s been a change in your sight.

What Causes a Cataract?
There are a few diseases that could encourage the development of cataracts. Diabetes is one of the primary conditions linked to this eye problem. However, eye injuries or inflammation could also encourage the protein deposits, as could some drugs, such as “prednisone” (a “corticosteroid” that’s used in inflammatory conditions like arthritis).
Another big cause of cataracts is exposure to ultraviolet light and radiation. This is one reason that cataracts may develop as an individual ages. The more years a person spends exposed to rays from the sun, the more likely they are to suffer this damage to the lens of the eye.
A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that UV rays are specifically related to cataract development. In fact, the scientists predict that as our ozone depletes further, as many as 830,000 more cases of cataracts will be reported by the time that we reach the year 2050.7

Preventing Cataracts Naturally
If you don’t have cataracts yet, you may be able to prevent them from occurring at all. Here are some ways to minimize your risk and, hopefully, eliminate your chances of having vision problems.

Wear Your Sunglasses!
Because one of the major causes of cataracts is sun exposure, it only makes sense that one of the best ways to protect your eyes is to wear sunglasses. Make sure that you get a pair that has UVA and UVB filtering ability. Wraparound shades are even better, because they protect you from all angles, so choose these if you can find a pair that you like.
Wear your glasses at all times when you are outside or driving in your car, whether it is winter or summer. Buy a pair of clear or lightly colored glasses to use when it’s cloudy out. UV rays come through shade and clouds, too — they aren’t just there when they sun is visible to you.
If you wear regular prescription lenses, talk to your optometrist about switching to lenses with UV filters.

Bilberries for Sharp Vision
Bilberry is well known for its vision-boosting powers. This unusual fruit that comes from the same family as the cranberry is a great source of antioxidants. Often used as a herbal cure for cataracts, bilberry has a long history of being used to improve eyesight.
It is the antioxidant “anthocyanoside” in the fruit that is now suspected to be the active ingredient that helps maintain healthy eyesight. This is the same pigment that makes blueberries effective antioxidants.
One animal study explored whether this herbal preparation could be used to help reduce the onset of cataracts. The researchers gave the animals 20 milligrams (mg) of bilberry extract per kilogram of body weight (this would equal 6,600 mg for a 50-lb person).
At three months, there was no evidence of cataracts or macular degeneration in the animals that were given bilberry extract. However, over 70% of the control animals had evidence of eye conditions. This extract may have the same beneficial effect in humans.8

Take Antioxidant Vitamins
Doctors have learned that antioxidants seriously reduce the damage that’s done to your eyes by free radicals. There are many vitamins that you can take to help boost your antioxidant levels. One of the most important is vitamin C. This vitamin has a long history when it comes to preventing cataracts. It is thought that the potent antioxidant effects of the vitamin make it an effective fighter against the free radicals that can damage the lens.
Studies have shown that supplements of vitamin C are most effective. For instance, one study showed that women who took 362 mg of vitamin C every day reduced their cataract risk by 57% when compared to women who got only 140 mg.9
Vitamin E is also very important for eye health. You can take it to help protect your lenses from cataracts. Plus, vitamin E is fat-soluble, which allows it to fight oxidation in the places that water-soluble vitamin C can’t get into.
Clinical trials have shown that people with lower levels of vitamin E in their bodies have increased risks of suffering cataracts. In fact, in one study, people with a lower intake of vitamins A and E had almost double the risk of cataracts as those who got adequate amounts of these nutrients.10
Finally, don’t forget about the B complex of vitamins. There’s evidence to show that vitamins B1, B2 and B3 can reduce the occurrence of cataracts when they are taken in supplement form. However, don’t forget that a diet that’s high in these vitamins (niacin, riboflavin and thiamin) will do the same.
Eat Healthy Foods
It’s probably no surprise that a good diet can protect your eyes. The best way to get a variety of antioxidants is through the foods that you eat. For instance, “carotenoids” — one of the most effective groups of antioxidants against eye damage — have been shown to be most effective and least dangerous when they are taken in from food sources like carrots.
Spinach, collard greens, kale and yellow corn are also great sources of these eye-helping nutrients. Just remember that most fruits and veggies are rich sources of antioxidants, so if you get a lot of these in your diet, you’ll be boosting your eyes’ protection against the damage that causes cataracts. This is the easiest and healthiest way to protect your eyes, and you’ll also be giving your whole body a boost.
What to Do When You Have a Cataract
There is only one way to get rid of a cataract that has already been developed — surgery. Although surgery may not be necessary for a long time, eventually, many people resort to this option in order to improve their eyesight.
Cataracts can get so bad that they can almost completely impair vision, significantly affecting your everyday life. This is especially true in cases where both eyes are affected. Cataract surgery is the most common operation in the U.S. The procedure involves the removal of your actual eye lens. It is then replaced with a very thin, clear plastic. This is called an “intraocular lens.”
One benefit to the new lenses is that they can filter out the sun’s harmful rays, which may protect the eye, and specifically the retina, for a longer period of time.

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