Cataracts: The Obstruction of Sight

After talking with my grandfather on the phone today, I found out that he needed cataract surgery. While I had absolutely no idea what that exactly was, I was inspired to do some research, and of course, publish my findings on the scholars' blog!

Essentially, cataracts are a clouding of the lens in the eye, that leads to vision loss. Usually, like in my grandfather's case, cataracts are the result of aging, but trauma, radiation, and post eye surgery could all be causes of them forming.

Cataracts are quite commonplace. Research indicates that nearly 20 million people in the world develop cataracts each year, and it is the cause of 5% of the blindness in the United States, and nearly 60% of the blindness in Africa and South America!

Cataracts can be classified in several different ways, specifically in the realms of "nuclear sclerosis, cortical, and posterior subcapsular"

In nuclear sclerosis, the middle portion of the eye's lens becomes quite dense and hard. Afterwards, a brown pigment begins to slowly cover the lens. This is the most common type of cataract.

Cortical cataracts occur when the outer layers of the eye begin to crack, due to a change in the fluid contained in the periphery of the lens.

Like their name entails, posterior subcapsular cataracts occur when the back of the lens becomes darkened.

Usually, the most promising approach to resolving cataracts is through a surgical procedure, known as phacoemulsification, in which ultrasonic energy is harnessed to destroy the cataract.

While many students won't have to deal with cataracts any time soon, the idea of cataracts may be something their grandparents may have to deal with in the coming days.