What is cataract?
Cataract is an eye disease. Its root cause is that the lens in the eyeball is affected by various reasons, causing problems such as decreased transparency and turbidity. In this case, light cannot pass through the lens normally and enter the eyeball, which will eventually lead to vision loss and other problems, seriously affecting the quality of life of the patient.
Preventive measures for cataracts
Wear sunglasses
One of the main causes of cataracts is sun exposure to ultraviolet rays. In order to avoid cataract being induced or further aggravated, you should actively wear sunglasses and go out in daily activities. In this way, UV rays from the sun are blocked and the lens in the eye is protected. At the same time, wearing sunglasses can also maintain the health of the macula in the eye and help reduce the incidence of eye diseases. It is one of the simpler ways to prevent cataracts. One of the causes of cataracts
is nutritional deficiencies.
By increasing the intake of fruits in daily life, nutrition can be effectively supplemented, the eyes can be fully protected, and the incidence of cataracts can be reduced. Choose fresher fruits as much as possible, as fresh fruits are more nutritious. Eating fresh fruit can ensure that the nutritional intake meets the demand and achieve the ultimate goal of cataract prevention.
Take vitamin C supplements
Vitamin C supplements contain much more nutrients than daily food. Actively taking supplements can ensure sufficient vitamin C supply for the eyes and greatly reduce the incidence of cataracts. As we age, the body’s utilization of vitamin C will gradually decrease. In this case, the unbalanced vitamin content inside the lens will induce degenerative problems and eventually lead to cataract disease. Therefore, taking vitamin C supplements reasonably can effectively reduce the incidence of cataracts, and it also has a good effect on the treatment of cataracts caused by chemical toxic substances.
Pay attention to eye health
Excessive eye fatigue is one of the important factors that induce cataracts. To avoid related problems, you should pay attention to eye health in your daily life. For example, after using mobile phones, reading, and writing for a long time, it is necessary to stop eye activities and take a rest in an outdoor environment so that the eyes can be fully relaxed. Relaxation needs to be done every 1 to 2 hours to avoid aggravating eye fatigue as much as possible. When there are problems such as refractive errors and astigmatism in the eyes, optometry and glasses should be taken in time to avoid cataract problems caused by excessive eye adjustment pressure.
Ensure eye hygiene The key causes of
cataracts include bacterial infection, trauma, toxins, etc. In order to prevent cataracts as much as possible, good eye hygiene should be maintained in daily life. For example, clean the eyes regularly to prevent bacteria from invading the eyes and causing infection problems. At the same time, in the process of intense activities, eye protection is required to prevent trauma from causing lens rupture, turbidity, and cataract problems. By maintaining good eye hygiene, the incidence of cataract can be significantly reduced, which is of great significance for maintaining the quality of life.
Adequate water intake
Moisture is of great significance to maintain the normal functioning of the eye, the lens can use water to complete the basic metabolism, so that the interior can maintain a clear state. Insufficient water supply will lead to poor metabolism of the lens, which will eventually lead to cataract problems. At the same time, the metabolic function of the elderly group is poor. If the water intake is insufficient, it may lead to the accumulation of toxins and eventually cause cataract problems. Therefore, one of the best ways to prevent cataracts is to drink enough water to ensure that the metabolic needs of the eye are being met. Under normal circumstances, ensuring a daily intake of 1.5 L of water can maintain healthy eye function. If you suffer from metabolic diseases such as kidney disease, you can properly adjust your water intake to avoid problems such as edema.
take aspirin
Aspirin belongs to the classic anti-inflammatory drugs. After long-term research in the academic circles, its potential health care function has also been widely valued. By taking aspirin regularly, you can improve the body’s metabolic efficiency and achieve anti-aging and anti-oxidation effects. After the metabolism of the elderly declines, the oxidative substances in the body continue to accumulate, which may cause clouding of the lens and eventually induce cataracts. Therefore, taking aspirin regularly can effectively remove oxidative substances in the body and achieve the effect of preventing cataract problems. It should be noted that aspirin is an anti-inflammatory drug, which is prone to irritating effects on the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, it is necessary to reasonably adjust the daily dose of aspirin to ensure that it can exert a preventive effect, reduce the possibility of gastrointestinal irritation, and achieve the goal of balanced medication. Treatment of cataracts Drug
therapy Drug therapy is a conservative intervention for cataracts, which is usually carried out when the patient cannot be treated with surgery or has other contraindications. Since cataract is a physical lesion in the eye, the effect of drug treatment is usually not up to the ideal standard, and can only delay the progression of cataract to a certain extent, and the intervention effect for patients with severe symptoms is minimal. Cataract has a long progression cycle, and proper use of drug intervention can delay the operation time as much as possible and provide patients with sufficient opportunities for preparation. Currently, commonly used clinical cataract drugs include vitamin C, vitamin E supplements, glutathione antioxidants, proteolytic enzyme activators, etc. In the process of selecting drugs, it is necessary to analyze according to the type of cataract lesion and the speed of progression, so as to ensure that drug intervention can exert the maximum effect. Surgical treatment (1) Intracapsular extirpation: Intracapsular extirpation is one of the most classic cataract operations, which requires complete removal of the intraocular lens capsule, leaving a limbal incision about 0-10 mm wide after the operation. By compressing the outside of the sclera, the zonules of the lens can be severed, creating conditions for subsequent removal of the lens. Intracapsular extirpation was applied earlier, and its surgical trauma is relatively large, which is likely to cause other sequelae, so it has been eliminated clinically.
(2) Conventional extracapsular extirpation: extracapsular extirpation is an improved scheme of intracapsular extirpation, which can preserve the posterior capsule structure of the patient’s eye, and remove the anterior capsule and lens nucleus through partial extirpation. This surgical approach preserves the lens pocket and prepares for the subsequent implantation of an intraocular lens. Conventional extracapsular extirpation requires an incision of about 7 mm in the limbus, and a 6 mm diameter entrance is opened by acupuncture, so that the crystal nucleus can be sucked out, and finally the surgical wound is sutured to complete the extirpation process.
(3) Phacoemulsification: Phacoemulsification is the best option for the clinical treatment of cataract. It requires an incision of about 3 mm. The location can be flexibly selected according to the actual situation, such as the upper part of the eye, the sclera, and the clear cornea. In the state where the elastic material maintains the basic structure of the anterior chamber, the anterior capsule is torn open with a needle poking the capsule, so that the needle can enter from the edge, and the separation liquid is injected so that the lens capsule can be separated from the cortex and rotate freely in the capsule bag . Subsequently, phacoemulsification can be used for treatment to fully emulsify the crystal nucleus. Phacoemulsification can achieve the goal of cataract treatment under the premise of minimal invasiveness, and its postoperative recovery period is relatively short. At the same time, the incidence of infection and bleeding complications is low, and it usually does not induce postoperative astigmatism. Therefore, phacoemulsification has become the best solution for clinical treatment of cataract.
Precautions
before and after cataract surgery Before cataract surgery, patients need to have in-depth communication with doctors to clarify whether they have contraindications to surgery. At the same time, the doctor should conduct a comprehensive eye examination for the patient, including visual acuity, corneal topography, anterior chamber depth, fundus status, etc. In this way, you are prepared for subsequent surgical treatment and screened for the type of IOL that can be implanted.
After cataract surgery, patients need to rest for a period of time. During the recuperation process, accidental impact on the operated eye should be avoided as much as possible. Excessive impact force may cause eye wounds to dehisce and induce a series of complications such as bleeding and inflammation. At the same time, patients need to avoid excessive force, such as constipation, coughing, etc.
In addition, it is necessary to do a good job in diet management. Under normal circumstances, the postoperative diet should be light, and avoid eating raw and cold seafood and other foods to prevent accidental eye infections. After the operation, the patient needs to go to the hospital for reexamination regularly to analyze the recovery status of the eye. After the basic recovery, the patient can go to the hospital for optometry and glasses to further improve the level of vision and improve the quality of life.
