In the eye we have lenses in charge of focusing the images on the retina. These lenses are the cornea (1 in the image), which is the most powerful and external and, at the back of the iris (2), there is the second lens or crystalline lens (3). This lens allows us until the age of 50 to vary the focus in order to see objects at different distances clearly.
When the crystalline lens loses transparency, cataracts occur.
How to distinguish cataracts?
It is important to distinguish what are cataracts and what are not. Thus, a cataract is not:
– A cloth that covers the eye
– A consequence of overuse of the eyes
– It is not a cancer
– It is not a contagious disease transmitted from person to person or by eye contact.
– It is not a cause of irreversible blindness by itself.
How Cataracts are Treated and Removed
The only solution for cataracts is surgery. There are currently no medications, dietary supplements, exercises or optical devices that cure or delay the progression of cataracts.
However, it is not true that cataracts must mature before being operated on, nor is it true that one must wait until blindness before being able to intervene.
Cataract surgery consists of eliminating the altered material of the crystalline lens with a minimal incision, replacing it with synthetic material that fulfills the mission of the natural lens, that is, with an intraocular lens. It is an outpatient procedure that is performed by the specialist in Ophthalmology under topical anesthesia and does not last more than ten minutes per eye.