When a cataract develops in your eye, light cannot pass through the cloudy lens and “blurred vision” becomes an inevitable consequence. In the early stages, a fixed black spot appears in front of your eyes, which gradually deepens and widens and causes painless vision loss. The time of visual impairment varies depending on the location of the clouding: if the clouding occurs first in the center of the visual axis, it affects vision at the earliest; if the clouding occurs in the peripheral lens cortex, it can only be detected by dilating the pupil and does not affect vision at the early stage. Therefore, people over 45 years of age with normal vision should routinely undergo slit lamp and fundoscopic examination for early detection of cataracts.
People who have passed the age of “not confused” have normal distance vision, but the lens cannot become convex when looking at near objects, so they need to read the newspaper at a distance to see clearly. However, some elderly people gradually find that they can thread the needle and read the newspaper, as if they have suddenly returned to their youth, and the whole family is exceptionally happy, thinking that they are “rejuvenated”. This is a good thing, but it doesn’t last long, and soon the vision will take a sharp turn for the worse.
What causes this change in vision in the elderly? It turns out that the lens lesion is playing a role. After “presbyopia” occurs in the eye, the lens further hardens, the fibers in the nucleus further crinkles, dense, its refractive power will become larger and larger, we call it “nuclear myopia”. In some elderly people, as they age, metabolic abnormalities occur in the lens, and the lens fibers become degenerate and swollen and cloudy, which is the occurrence of cataract. The hardening of the lens nucleus and the swelling and thickening of the fibers are like adding another convex lens inside the eye, which replaces the original convex lens worn outside the eye – “presbyopia”, and of course, it feels clear to see close to remove the glasses.
It is a stage in the process of lesioning. When the cataract develops further and nuclear cataract appears, the vision will drop again and finally develop to the point of blindness. Once the elderly people have a sudden improvement in vision, they should not be blindly optimistic, but should think of the possibility of cataract and actively go to the hospital for medical treatment.