Cataracts

[Barbaramoore]

I have a question here. A friend of mine, she is of age 35 is detected of having cataracts. It is totally unexpected because she never complained of having any eye problems and all of a sudden she started to get a blurred vision about 3 months before and when she consulted her ophthalmologist he said that they are the initial symptoms of cataract. No one in her family had cataracts before. I did a little bit of research and what I found is that, the protein in our lens clumps together and creates a clouding effect, and forms a blanket which is called cataracts. But I also read that cataract is a disease that comes due to old age( http://www.c-care.ca/blog/home-care/four-common-vision-problems-among-seniors/ ). Is that so? Or can it happen to any person even when he/she has no history of eye problems.

 

[Scent of Cedar *]

Thirty five is young for cataract formation, but each of our bodies function differently. Cataract is something that happens to us as we age because of changes happening to the lens over time. Surgery to replace the lens is commonly and successfully performed, today.

Here is a link to Mayo Clinic regarding cataracts.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cataracts/basics/definition/con-20015113

Cedar

 

[GoingNorth]

The two big causes of eye cataracts in whites,are excessive UV exposure and psychiatric drugs. I spent years out in woods or on/in water. When I wasn't in a boat, I was on a horse. Sunglasses that blocked UVA/B weren't yet available, and there was little that worked as "flip downs" over my very thick lenses.

I was also on high Doses of Depakote for many years. Depakote causes cataract as a known side-effect.

I have a fully developed cataract in my left eye that isn't really bother me as it isn't really opaque yet. I have a partially developed one in my right eye is bothering due to it getting in the way of what useable vision i have in that eye. .

Best thing to prevent cataracts is to eat a clean, nutritious diet, avoid certain psy drugs if possible (and some street drugs, so I've heard) Moderate exercise is good, doesn't have to be strenuous or bouncy if that's more than you or your doctor think you can handle.

Most all, wear good quality sunglasses that block UVA/UVB rays. They are readily available in a wide range of styles.

I wear photo-variable lenses that change level of darkness according to how much light they are exposed to. They also block UVA/B.

If I need Polarized lenses (going out on water or into other high glare situations), I wear a pair of "senior citizens" shades. The huge ones that wrap around your face and go on over the regular glasses.

They make me look like the housefly from Hell, (with freckles) but they do get the job done.

 

[ksm]

I have had surgery for cataracts over the last several years. The first one I was pretty stressed about, but they gave me enough medications that I got thru it ok, and didn't really remember he procedure at all. Then about a year later,my hey had to do another small procedure as he said sometimes a film develops and they removed that with a laser. I think my right eye now needs the laser procedure. I notice that my vision I. The right eye in clearer and brighter than the left.

Ksm

 

[GoingNorth]

I'm glad the surgery worked well for you, at least up until now. My mother had cataract surgery several years ago. That itself is OK, but she's now got some autoimmune thing going on where clumps of cells are growing on her corneas.

She's decided the only way she'll have the surgery for that will be if she fails the vision test for her Driver's License. She doesn't figure on driving for that much longer as it is.

I have great difficulty driving at night, especially if there's a lot of traffic, and/or if the roads are wet and I have headlights, etc being reflected back at me.

 

[ksm]

The starburst effect of lights at night might be a sign of a cataract...it is better since the surgery, but I still notice that too. KSM

 

[GoingNorth]

The starburst effect, especially if accompanied by a halo effect, is also a warning sign of glaucoma. Not something to play games with.

I've had had the starburst effect since I was a kid, but I have various "structural" problems with my eyes, mostly due to bad stuff I inherited, and a bit from being a premie,.

 

[Kathy813]

Well, this is a timely thread for me. I am currently recovering from cataract surgery in my left eye and go back for the right eye in two weeks. I do see starbursts from on-coming car lights but it has only been five days since the surgery. I was told that it would take up to a month for my vision to stabilize completely.

I chose the multi-focal IOL (lens) and it is amazing. I can already see close, near, and far. There surgery itself was not painful. All I remember is very bright lights. At the next day post op appoints, I was reading at 20/40.

I read up on cataracts before the surgery and it appears that you can get them at any age even though it is definitely more prevalent with aging.

Don't be afraid of the surgery, though.

~Kathy

 

[donna723]

I had always thought of cataracts as something that just very old people got. But since I was diagnosed with them a few years ago, I've heard of people in their 40's and 50's getting them. I've probably had them developing for several years and didn't know it. I kind of suspected it in my right eye because there is a bit of a haze that I kept trying to clean off of my glasses. It's worse in a bright light or when I'm driving on a sunny day. I could tell I had the one on my right eye but the doctor says there's also one on the left eye. At first the doctor wanted me to go ahead and schedule the surgery. But at my next appointment he said they hadn't gotten any bigger, weren't growing, so the surgery became "optional". I can go ahead and have it if they get to the point that they bother me. I didn't even realize that I had one on the left eye but the ophthalmologist says it's there. And as far as I know, no one else in my immediate family has had them, or if they did, they didn't know it.

 

[Copabanana]

I have had surgery for cataracts over the last several years

I went to an opthamologist several months ago and was diagnosed, too. I was shocked. *What did I think, I was bionic? Over the past year my vision seems worse and worse. Up until recently I had only noticed the change in needing progressively stronger, readers. Now distance is affected--the TV is blurry.

I have great difficulty driving at night

For maybe 6 years I have had fear driving at night, particularly on dark highways, with headlights approaching. (I live in a place where just out of town it is country, and there are no streetlights.) I had never related this night vision thing to cataracts.

The eye doctor said that people in their 60's like me, need 10x as much light at night in order to see, but that it varied person to person, how bad it was. He was my age and said he did not have this night vision problem but his wife who was 10 years younger, did.

I am now going back to work, it seems. I work long days. 10 hours. With summer, it will not be a problem, because of the long days. But by October, it will be dark when I leave home and dark when I leave work. The entire drive (45 min) is through deserted country roads. I am fearful.

I believe that M would drive me and pick me up, but I do not think I will have the confidence to drive myself in the dark. Especially with rain. I am getting scared already.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Cataracts. The biggest risk factor is sunlight. As in, the more time you spend in the sun without protecting your eyes, the higher your risk of cataracts.

In the old days, people always wore hats, which in the summer do provide significant protection (when not on the water). Most people today do not wear hats. The other option is sun glasses with UV protection - and many people can't be bothered with that either. Its even harder if you wear glasses, and prescription sun glasses are majorly expensive. Mea Culpa.

 

[GoingNorth]

My cataracts, which began developing in my very late 40s, were diagnosed by an opthalmologist as being primarily due to excessive UV exposure. In fact, he said that looking at the amount of sun damage I have to my skin, he wasn't at all surprised to find the beginnings of cataracts.

I have worn very thick RX lenses since childhood. Too thick for clip-ons to work. My parents and later I, coulddn't afford RX sunglasses; those sunglasses in my day didn't have UVAB protection at all.

2 years ago I finally got a pair of transitional lenses that darken and lighten in response to brightness levels of sunlight. They block UV. They also cost me a fortune.

Now, I did wear a hat when out fishing, but a lot of that was from a boat, where the hat doesn't help with-reflection off the water. I wore a helmet whenever I was around horses, but the brim on a riding helmet is for looks only and doesn't provide safety of ANY kind to the eyes.

 

[Kathy813]

I had my second eye done yesterday. It was very easy and I can see!! It is amazing.

~Kathy

 

[BusynMember]

Thanks for this. For the last two years my vision has become duller. At my last eye exam I was told I have early cataracts.

For me, I think it's just being 62. I was always sensitive to sunlight and avoided it.

 

[Kathy813]

I got the cataract in my left eye in my early fifties but didn't even know it until the eye doctor told me. Over the last few years it has slowly gotten worse until the last year when it rapidly progressed. I had stopped driving at night after I almost had an accident from not being able to see the turn I was trying to make.

That's when I decided to go ahead and have the surgery. I was in the car last night and couldn't believe how well I could see now (only three days past having the second eye done). I am so glad I went ahead and had it done. I am also happy that I paid extra for the multi-focal lenses. I can even read the fine print on everything I pick up. I have been reading ingredient lists to my husband just because I can.


~Kathy

 

[Janette Romano]

My husband's aunt is a diabetic. When she was 50 she was practically blind because of cataract. She underwent laser eye operation. Now she's 65 and still has a 20/20 vision.