Cataract in Women

• 18 Jul 2019

According to a study, women are 69% more likely to develop cataract than men.

• Reasons for this are:
  
  • Gender disparity- Women traditionally had poor access to the coverage of medical services, because cataract surgery requires travelling outside the village and due to the social structure and burden of their families, women are less likely to go for eye surgery.
  • Biological factors- The lack of oestrogen could be the reason for the high prevalence of cataract blindness among women.
    
    • Postmenopause, the level of oestrogen decreases, however, the correlation of oestrogen and cataract is not established.

Government Intervention

• National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCB&VI) was launched in the year 1976 as a 100% centrally sponsored scheme with the goal of reducing the prevalence of blindness to 0.3% by 2020.
• NPCB&VI seeks to provide Eye Health for All and prevention of visual impairment
• It envisages comprehensive universal eye-care services and quality service delivery, though its implementation still remains a major issue.

Cataract

• Inside human eyes, there is a natural lens. The lens bends (refracts) light rays that come into the eye to help us see.
• A person with cataract, this lens becomes cloudy, and vision gets blurry, hazy or less colourful.
• A cataract may be characterised by:
  
  • Blurry vision
  • Seeing double (when you see two images instead of one)
  • Being extra sensitive to light
  • Having trouble seeing well at night, or needing more light when you read
  • Seeing bright colours as faded or yellow instead

Causes

• Ageing is the most common cause. At the age of 40 years, the normal proteins in the lens start to break down. This is what causes the lens to get cloudy.
• Having certain medical problems, such as diabetes
• An eye injury, eye surgery, or radiation treatments.
• Having spent a lot of time in the sun, especially exposure to damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays
• Using certain medications such as corticosteroids, which may cause early formation of cataracts.

Treatment

• Surgery is the only option if vision is totally blocked due to cataract. If not, then symptoms can be treated by remedies like stronger eyeglasses, magnifying lenses, or sunglasses with an anti-glare coating.