CATARACT: CAUSES AND DIAGNOSIS

WHAT IS CATARACT?

Lens is a transparent biconvex structure in the eye that, along with the cornea, helps to refract light to be focused on the retina. With age, the consistency of the lens increases, its elasticity and transparency decrease, followed by  the appearance of an opaque yellow color, also known as cataract.Cataract is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world, and it occurs most in middle-aged people and the elderly.

Cataract is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world, and it occurs most in middle-aged people and the elderly. People suffering from it will face deterioration of vision and quality of life as a variety of physical and mental activities such as reading, using computers, driving a car, playing sports, etc. gets affected.

According to statistics in Vietnam, cataract accounts for 65% of the causes of blindness. Each year, 88 people develop cataracts for every 100,000 people. Thus, with a population of 96 million people (2019), an average of 84,480 more people are diagnosed with cataract each year.

CAUSES

Most cataracts are caused by a natural aging process called old age cataracts, which is common in people over the age of 50, the older the age, the higher the incidence.

In addition, there are other causes of cataracts including:

- Congenital cataract: disease acquired from birth or the first years after birth. The reason is that the mother suffers from diseases during pregnancy.

- Cataract occur along with other eye diseases such as uveitis, eye injury, ...

- Cataract caused by systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, metabolic disorders, ...

- Cataract caused as the side effects of drugs such as: corticosteroids, blood lipids of the statin group, antiarrhythmic drugs (amiodarone), antidepressants.

- Due to frequent exposure to ultraviolet rays, X-rays, welding rays, ...

- Studies show that people who use too many stimulants such as alcohol, tobacco, and poor diet also have a higher risk of cataract.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Blurred vision is the most common symptom of a cataract. The more opaque the lens gets, the blurrier the eyesight is.

Getting dazzled in bright lights environments such as sun rays, headlights.

Poorer vision when standing under direct sunlight compared to when standing in the shade.

Besides, patients can suffer other symptoms such as: foggy/cloudy vision, seeing yellowish or duplicated objects, myopia increase…

DIAGNOSIS

Cataracts can be easily diagnosed by an ophthalmologist through inquiry and microscopic eye examination. In some special cases, patients need to apply pupil-dilated eye drops to comprehensively examine the lens and detect associated ocular fundus diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age macular degeneration,...