The Cataract Cure - Dr. Dennis Courtney

About this Episode

Watch a podcast with Dr. Courtney below.

Cataracts are the most common cause of vision loss in people ever the age of 40. It is estimated that 22 million Americans have them and those numbers will escalate to at least 30 million by the year 2020. Worldwide there are more cases of cataracts than there are of glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy combined. So, what are cataracts and what can you do about them?

Aging Takes its toll on vision

The lens of the eye works very similar to the way that the lens of a camera works. Light passes through the lens and focuses the light onto the retina that is found in the back of the eye. Images are usually clear and sharp when the eye is working optimally, which it usually does for many years without any problems. The lens itself is made of mostly water and protein. As we age, some of that protein may begin clumping together and start to cloud a small area of the lens, which is known as a cataract. Over time, it begins to grow larger and cloud more of the lens making it more difficult to see. Toxic substances also accumulate in the cataract such as heavy metals like lead and cadmium and many others.

These cataracts are routinely discovered during an exam with your eye doctor. The doctor typically tells the patient that the cataract will be monitored until it interferes with vision and then it will be required to be surgically removed. Very little advice is provided by the eye doctor to slow the development of the cataract and certainly no instruction on how to reverse the cataract that has already formed.