A Cloudy Situation: Cataract Awareness Month

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Tina

August is Cataract Awareness Month and The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Eye M.D.s around the nation want to remind people they don't have to live with cataracts. Over 20 million Americans age 40 and over have the condition, which causes a clouding of the eye's normally clear lens that blocks the passage of light needed for vision. They are not painful and changes in vision might be subtle at first—a frequently changing prescription, difficulty with night driving or sensitivity to glare, are clues that your vision problems might be caused by cataracts. Eventually though, the cataracts become thicker and thicker. Currently, there are no medications or exercises that will cause cataracts to disappear. If you seem to be managing just fine, you may want to forgo surgery, the only sure treatment, until symptoms interfere with everyday life. Still, cataracts do not need to become "ripe" to be removed.

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