Poor vision and falls: A deadly combo for seniors
Seniors with vision issues are at much higher risk for dangerous falls, new research confirms.
Dec 29, 2023
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Seniors with vision issues are at much higher risk for dangerous falls, new research confirms.
Dec 29, 2023
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that approximately 2.2 billion people suffer from visual impairment. Cataracts account for about 33% of visual impairment and are the number one cause of blindness ...
Sep 20, 2023
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Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness around the world, but surgery can restore vision.
May 31, 2023
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Many years ago, I began my Ph.D. with the firm resolve of finding a cure for cataracts—not in several years or decades, but within the duration of my Ph.D. Such was my enthusiasm and naivety. Decades later, though, that ...
Aug 26, 2022
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Cataracts, any ophthalmologist will tell you, are an extremely common side effect of growing older. Live long enough, and most people will develop this condition—a clouding of the normally clear eye lens—in one or both ...
Aug 23, 2022
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People who have genetic variations associated with lowering LDL-cholesterol similar to statin medications appear to have an increased risk of developing cataracts and having cataract surgery, according to new research published ...
Jun 15, 2022
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(HealthDay)—Cataracts, a common eye disorder that often comes with age, may also be linked to a heightened risk of death from heart disease, new research shows.
Oct 26, 2021
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(HealthDay)—Many aging Americans can have their vision dimmed by cataracts, but the good news is that they're easily treated, one expert says.
Jun 14, 2021
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Cataracts are uncommon in babies, but when they occur, the cloudy lenses must be removed without delay or blindness may result.
Jun 27, 2019
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A $5.7 billion global medical bill to restore sight for the estimated 45 million people with cataracts could be slashed in half by a diet rich in colourful fruits and vegetables, according to an international study.
Mar 25, 2019
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A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope (lens capsule), varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light. Early in the development of age-related cataract, the power of the lens may be increased, causing near-sightedness (myopia), and the gradual yellowing and opacification of the lens may reduce the perception of blue colors. Cataracts typically progress slowly to cause vision loss, and are potentially blinding if untreated. The condition usually affects both eyes, but almost always one eye is affected earlier than the other.
A senile cataract, occurring in the elderly, is characterized by an initial opacity in the lens, subsequent swelling of the lens and final shrinkage with complete loss of transparency. Moreover, with time the cataract cortex liquefies to form a milky white fluid in a Morgagnian cataract, which can cause severe inflammation if the lens capsule ruptures and leaks. Untreated, the cataract can cause phacomorphic glaucoma. Very advanced cataracts with weak zonules are liable to dislocation anteriorly or posteriorly. Such spontaneous posterior dislocations (akin to the historical surgical procedure of couching) in ancient times were regarded as a blessing from the heavens, because some perception of light was restored in the cataractous patients.
Some children develop cataracts, called congenital cataracts, before or just after birth; these are usually dealt with in a different way to cataracts in adults.
Cataract derives from the Latin cataracta meaning "waterfall" and that from the Greek καταράκτης (kataraktēs) or καταρράκτης (katarrhaktēs), "down-rushing", from καταράσσω (katarassō) meaning "to dash down" (from kata-, "down"; arassein, "to strike, dash"). As rapidly running water turns white, the term may later have been used metaphorically to describe the similar appearance of mature ocular opacities. In Latin, cataracta had the alternate meaning "portcullis" and it is possible that the name passed through French to form the English meaning "eye disease" (early 15c.), on the notion of "obstruction". Early Persian physicians called the term nazul-i-ah, or "descent of the water"—vulgarised into waterfall disease or cataract—believing such blindness to be caused by an outpouring of corrupt humour into the eye.
This text uses material from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA