

| By Dr. Ronald Hoffman
The lens of the eye focuses light from objects onto the retina. The lens pushes the old focusing fibers into the center, causing haziness or a film. Because the lens has neither nerves nor blood vessels, it depends on the internal flow of fluid inside the eye (aqueous humor) to provide oxygen and nutrients and to remove toxic products.
The lens focuses light constantly, from distant objects to near objects. Some of the light wavelengths, such as ultraviolet light, are especially toxic. UV light creates more free radicals, which will accelerate the clouding of the lens over the years. Any clouding of the lens is a cataract (not cataracts). A cataract may be central (called nuclear), peripheral (on younger fibers near the outer edge of the lens) or sub-capsular (at the very front or very back of the lens).
The No. 1 cause of blindness in the world is cataracts, and it is preventable as well as treatable.
Symptoms of cataracts include hazy vision, glare, difficulty focusing on the printed page, rapid eye fatigue, even double vision. Some people will develop second sight, meaning that as they grow older they may see better without their glasses because the cataract is actually changing the prescription of the eye. Always check to see if your glasses can be improved.
We’re led to believe that everyone will develop cataracts. That is not true. We also are told that once you have them they get worse. That usually is true but only because people continue the same lifestyle and habits that led to the formation of cataracts in the first place. However, you can use nutrition and lifestyle changes to stop and even reverse cataracts.
Ask your eye doctor if he or she has ever seen a patient whose cataracts have stopped. I know they have. Yet doctors often tell people nothing will stop cataracts. This often is not true.
Let’s take a look at the causes and treatment of cataracts.
Symptoms, not just the physician’s judgment alone, should determine whether cataract surgery is necessary. You need a good examination with a refraction. Remember that the refraction is not paid for under many medical insurance policies, but it is the only way to learn if glasses will improve your vision. I have found that nine out of 10 people can be improved at distance or near. Sometimes that is not enough and surgery is necessary.
If you do have to have surgery, modern cataract surgical procedures are excellent. Eye drops are used as anesthetics and stitches are rarely needed. Surgery is performed with high-speed sound. We do not do surgery with a laser yet, but we do use a laser to open an after-cataract membrane. In 20 to 30 percent of cases this membrane will develop over the years.
Surgery, however, is not the only remedy, especially if your only problem is glare around headlights at night. I have found some of these other items very useful:
A number of experimental options are being evaluated because the cataract epidemic is global. Pyruvate, a substance produced by the breakdown of glucose, and several Indian herbs are receiving much interest. As soon as there is clinical information about safety and usefulness for cataract treatment, it will appear on this site.
Find a way to check your own vision in your house or in your yard or by reading and then check it periodically. Do not take medications if not necessary. If your only problem is a decrease in night vision, try bilberry, 100 mg in the evening before dark. Or, if you are not diabetic, eat fresh or frozen blueberries. And, by the way, keep using your eyes.
Eye Advisory, Inc.
3501 Silverside Road, Wilmington, DE 19810
www.eyeadvisory.com
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