We all strive towards living a long and healthy life. However, some
doctors believe that if we live long enough there is one condition that may be
unavoidable: Cataracts. According to recent estimates, as many as 80 per cent of
people aged 75 and over in the UK have some form of cataract. Although age is a
major contributing factor, the condition can also be triggered by diabetes and
the long-term use of steroids.
Cataracts occur when proteins inside your lens - the flexible and transparent
part of your eye which allows light to pass through - clump together. The most
common cause of this is a life-time of exposure to free radicals such as
sunlight. The formation of cataracts is speeded up by high blood sugar levels,
which is one of the main reasons why diabetics have a high risk of getting
cataracts.
Once a cataract it's nearly impossible for light to reach your eye and your
vision soon becomes distorted. One or both eyes may be affected and over time
the condition may result in complete blindness.
Some commons symptoms of eye-related diseases, including cataracts are:
• The onset of cloudy or fuzzy vision
• Seeing spots in your vision
• Difficulty driving at night due to the blinding headlights of oncoming
traffic
• Unusual sensitivity to light sources such as street lamps and sunlight
• Difficulty differentiating between colors, especially shades of blue
• Having to change your glasses frequently as your eyesight deteriorates
Treatment for cataracts is dependent on the severity of the condition.
Atropine eye drops may be prescribed to dilate the pupil and help more light
reach the inside of your eye. Surgery, which can completely restore your vision,
is opted for when the quality of life of the patient is affected. This surgery
removes the diseased lens and implants an artificial one. This procedure can
sometimes cause complications such as infection and in a small number of cases
surgery can lead to further visual impairment.
The good news is that there are simple steps you can take right now to
prevent the condition from developing. Since smoking contributes to the risk of
developing cataracts, a vital step in cataract prevention is to quit smoking.
Wearing sunglasses that block ultraviolet light and a hat with a wide brim will
help reduce eye exposure to UV rays and may cut the risk of cataracts.
Playing Video Games - Good for Your
Eyes?
If you or someone you know is addicted to playing video games, this might
just be good news for you. US researchers have found that playing action-packed
computer games might actually be good for your eyes.
A study by scientists at the University of Rochester shows that people who
play action video games for a few hours each day over the course of a month can
improve their performance in eye examinations by about 20%. Action video games
can push the human visual system to its limits causing the brain to change the
way it processes visual information. Researchers say that this changed process
of learning can carry over into other activities of everyday life.
A study was conducted by taking college students who played very few video
games. The first step was to give them each an eye test similar to one used at
regular eye clinics. The test basically asked that they pick a "T" out of a
crowd of other symbols. This type of test is called a "crowding test". The next
step divided the participants into two groups. One group played the
"shoot-em-up" action game Unreal Tournament for an hour a day while the other
played the less visually complex computer game Tetris for the same amount of
time. The third step, after 30 hours of game play, was to test everyone's vision
again. The students who had played Tetris for 30 hours saw no improvement in
their test score. On the other hand, the group that played Unreal Tournament
scored and average of 20% better in the eye test than they did the first time.
The researchers believe the spatial resolution of these players' vision
improved as a result of playing the fast and furious computer game, which
enabled them to pick out the "T" on the "crowding test" more easily.
The researchers say that these findings could help patients with visual
defects such as amblyopia, or "lazy eye". Such people might perhaps benefit from
using specially designed training software.
