Cataract lesson 2 | nature & signs | 50% to @campusconnectng

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What is the nature of a cataract?

In order to fully understand the mechanism of the development of the disease, it is important to understand that protein compounds are present in the biochemical composition of the lens. They have certain physical, chemical and biological properties, the balance of which ensures the crystal transparency of the lens.

With age, changes occur in the body, accompanied by the process of denaturation of protein compounds. In this case, proteins lose their original properties due to molecular rearrangements. The protein compound in the lens, undergoing these changes, darkens in the manner of egg white during the cooking process, this biological process is irreversible.

Signs of a cataract

The main and most common clinical sign of cataract is expressed in a visual defect, which is characterized as a veil before the eyes. This symptom directly indicates clouding of the lens, it is accompanied by a decrease in visual acuity. Most patients describe this sign as if they are looking at the world through a foggy glass, a foggy veil. Often the patient does not notice for a long time that the vision has become worse, since the eye that sees better compensates for the difference in vision. For self-diagnosis, doctors recommend alternately closing your eyes and checking vision separately with each eye.

Other symptoms of cataracts seen by ophthalmologists include:

blurry or blurred vision;colors appear dull and faded;circles appear around light sources;sensitivity to sunlight or bright light;blurred vision at night;high need for brighter lighting when reading;glasses no longer help.

How fast do cataracts mature?

The early stages of the progression of the pathological process often go unnoticed due to the absence of any symptoms. This is due to two features of the development of cataracts:

the pathology develops slowly, several years may pass from the moment of its occurrence until the first clinical signs appear;in most cases, clouding of the lens begins from the edges, that is, the affected areas are outside the optical zone, the clarity of vision remains the same up to a certain point.

The process of cataract progression to a severe stage, loss of vision, can take several years. During this period, vision will gradually deteriorate, until overmature cataracts. In this case, the patient has only a feeling of sensation of light (patients understand whether it is dark or light around). At the final stages of the progression of the pathology, the color of the pupil changes, which can be seen even with the naked eye (from black to various shades of white or light gray).

congenital cataract

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According to statistics, about 50% of visual impairments of the congenital type are cataracts. As in other cases, the true cause of the pathology is clouding of the lens due to biochemical anomalies in the protein compound. In most cases, this happens due to genetic disorders, often of hereditary origin. Other factors that contribute to the development of cataracts in newborns include:

endocrine disorders in the mother during pregnancy (including diabetes mellitus);the woman had an infectious disease in the first trimester;anomalies in the development of the fetus caused by the intake of certain medications by the mother at various stages of pregnancy.

The congenital form of cataract is dangerous for developmental disorders of the visual organs and senses of perception in a child. There are types of diseases in which urgent treatment is not required, but we are talking only about cases where partial clouding of the lens does not impair vision.

If the location, shape or size of the clouding spot is the cause of visual impairment, the child needs surgical treatment. With the current level of development of medicine, operations to restore the lens are carried out even for newborns in the first months of life.