{"id":12992,"date":"2024-06-14T03:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T10:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/?p=12992"},"modified":"2024-06-14T19:53:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T02:53:09","slug":"what-are-cataracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2024\/06\/14\/what-are-cataracts\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Cataracts?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Abstracted by Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS &#8211; Source from the Cleveland Clinic<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cataracts are cloudy areas that form on the lens of your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/body\/21823-eyes\">eye<\/a>. Your lens is a clear, flexible structure made mostly of proteins (crystallins). As you get older, the proteins in your lens break down, forming cloudy patches that affect your vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You may feel as if you\u2019re looking at the world through a dirty window. Over time, your vision gets worse. You may have a hard time carrying out routine tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Healthcare providers consider cataracts an inevitable part of aging, and age-related cataracts is the most common form of the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But you don\u2019t have to live with fading vision.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/articles\/22159-ophthalmologist\">Ophthalmologists<\/a>&nbsp;can do surgery to remove the cataracts and restore your vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Types of cataracts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many types of cataracts. This article focuses on age-related cataracts. Other cataract types include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pediatric cataracts<\/strong>. Pediatric cataracts affect babies and children. Babies may be born with cataracts (congenital), or the cataracts may form sometime after birth. Pediatric cataracts typically run in families, but they can also happen due to eye injuries or other eye conditions. Babies and children with pediatric cataracts need prompt treatment to prevent problems like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/10707-amblyopia-lazy-eye\">amblyopia (lazy eye)<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Traumatic cataracts<\/strong>. These cataracts form when something injures your eye. Treatment for this type is more complicated because structures around the lens may also need repair.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Secondary cataracts<\/strong>. These are cloudy patches that form on your lens capsule, or the membrane that covers your lens. Another term for this condition is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/24737-posterior-capsular-opacification\">posterior capsular opacification<\/a>. It\u2019s a common but easily treatable complication of cataract surgery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Types of age-related cataracts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are several types of age-related cataracts. Their names refer to their location in your lens. To understand these types, it helps to learn a bit about the anatomy of your lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your lens is made up of a few layers. You can think of them like the layers of an apple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The&nbsp;<strong>nucleus<\/strong>&nbsp;is in the center of your lens. It\u2019s like the core of the apple.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The&nbsp;<strong>cortex<\/strong>&nbsp;is the layer that surrounds the nucleus. It\u2019s like the fruit you eat that surrounds the core.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The&nbsp;<strong>lens capsule<\/strong>&nbsp;is the thin membrane covering the cortex. It\u2019s technically not part of the lens itself, but is instead like a close-fitting skin that covers and protects the lens. The lens capsule is a bit like the apple skin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eye care providers classify cataracts based on where they form in your lens. Often, people have more than one type at the same time. That\u2019s because it\u2019s common for cloudy patches to form in multiple areas of your lens. The three most common types of age-related cataracts are:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nuclear sclerotic cataract<\/strong>, which forms in the nucleus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cortical cataract<\/strong>, which forms in the cortex.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Posterior subcapsular cataract<\/strong>, which forms in the posterior cortex. \u201cPosterior\u201d in this context means the \u201cback\u201d of your lens. This is the part that\u2019s closest to your retina (which is behind your lens). \u201cSubcapsular\u201d means the cataract forms at the outer edge of the cortex, just beneath the lens capsule.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>At what age do cataracts usually start?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The proteins in your eye\u2019s lens start to break down around age 40. But you typically won\u2019t notice symptoms until age 60 or later. Certain medical conditions, like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/7104-diabetes-mellitus-an-overview\">diabetes<\/a>, may cause you to have symptoms sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How common are cataracts?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cataracts are very common in the U.S. and globally. According to the World Health Organization, about 17% of people around the world have cataracts that cause problems with their vision. However, the prevalence varies widely by country and region. There\u2019s a higher prevalence in middle-income and low-income nations where people often have more risk factors and limited access to cataract treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the U.S., nearly 1 in 5 people age 65 to 74 have cataracts that affect their vision. More than 50% of people over age 80 either have cataracts or had surgery to remove them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your homework from the Care Ministry this week: describe what is cataract.Love to hear from you: <a href=\"mailto:kunlouis@gmail.com\">kunlouis@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abstracted by Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS &#8211; Source from the Cleveland Clinic Cataracts are cloudy areas that form on the lens of your&nbsp;eye. Your lens is a clear, flexible structure made mostly of proteins (crystallins). As you get older, the proteins in your lens break down, forming cloudy patches that affect your vision. You may feel as if you\u2019re looking at the world &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2024\/06\/14\/what-are-cataracts\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continuar leyendo <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">What are Cataracts?<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":12546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[31713],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-wellness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/health-wellness-graphic-logo-feature.jpg?fit=1600%2C537&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-3ny","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12992"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13002,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12992\/revisions\/13002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}