October 26, 2021
Most cataracts are related to ageing, but others can be prevented and the ophthalmologist Tiago Monteiro explains the difference:
Some are related to certain ocular pathologies, such as myopia, such as intraocular inflammation, and these may be preventable or treatable at an early stage with the correct periodic supervision of an ophthalmologist. There are cataracts that are secondary to medication that we take either in drops or tablets, and the most frequent are corticoids. Therefore, it is important that we do not use indiscriminately and without medical supervision, systemic medication in the eye that may have this side effect.
There are also cataracts secondary to environmental and other toxicity, namely unregulated diet and smoking, which are associated with earlier cataract onset.
And finally, cataracts secondary to trauma. Trauma in the context of accidents at work, particularly in the industrial and construction sectors, where failure to use appropriate eye protection, protective goggles, can cause traumatic cataracts, and also sports trauma in certain sports such as squash, paintball and, more recently, padel, can require the use of protective goggles because trauma with a ball can cause cataracts.
So there are a number of factors that we can avoid, most of them we can't prevent, but we can delay them by having healthy ageing.
