Eyes deteriorate with age, and people over 50 are more likely to develop cataracts. Here you can find out what promotes the disease and how you can prevent it.
It is not enough to go through life with open eyes, a clear view is part of it. Interestingly, however, our eye ages from the first day after birth, right after it sees the light of day for the first time.
At some point in our lives, this process can lead to a bleak outlook in the truest sense of the word, through cataracts, glaucoma or macular degeneration – these are the most common pathologies of aging eyes. But it is not only advancing age that shakes our eyesight, a lack of vitamins and proteins in the diet, such as in the third world, can also lead to a functional degradation of the human lens.
It is there to be translucent, to be able to adjust to near and far by changing its refractive power, i.e. becoming flatter or more spherical in order to protect the yellow spot on the retina. The yellow spot, the macula, appears yellow when examining the retina: there is the greatest density of color-seeing receiving points for light, there is the place of sharpest vision, the light rays fall exactly in the middle of the yellow spot when fixing.
The lentil has a water content of 60 percent and a protein content of about 35 percent. The proteins are in a three-dimensional fold structure to enable great elasticity and the finest refraction effects. The aging process of the lens of the eye is reflected in the loss of cell nuclei, but the supply chain for new proteins is interrupted.
The lens loses its ability to adapt to near and far vision, which is why you become “presbyopic” and can no longer see everything up close. When reading the menu it is therefore necessary to have more light and a significantly longer arm. If the lens becomes cloudy, you become sensitive to glare and your vision becomes foggy. New short-sightedness can occur because the light is refracted too much.
The chaperones, which are protective proteins in the eye, ensure that the proteins in the lens do not clump together. However, this protective mechanism can fail from time to time due to infections, lack of oxygen or high temperatures. The development of cataracts, also known as cataracts, is also fueled by smoking, alcohol, diabetes, obesity, cortisone therapies or UV radiation.
A diet rich in vitamin C can protect against this. After all, diet and environmental factors contribute 65 percent more to clouding of the lens than genetic predisposition. Protective substances are B vitamins, vitamin E, zinc, selenium, omega 3 fatty acids and the secondary plant substances, the anthocyanins (blueberries), the carotenoids beta carotene (provitamin A), lutein, zeaxanthin. Among other things, they are part of a plant-rich diet. However, there are also appropriate dietary supplements for eye patients. The old joke “Carrots are good for your eyes – or have you ever seen a rabbit with glasses?” therefore has an authentic medical background.
If you feel your eyesight declining, you shouldn’t be prepared for any star airs and should see an ophthalmologist immediately. For him, effective help is routine in most cases: up to 800,000 cataract patients are operated on in Germany every year: a new, synthetic lens sits in the eye in just fifteen minutes, with little risk and few complications! However, if you do not go to the ophthalmologist with it, you risk going blind in the end.
Yael Adler is a dermatologist and bestselling author. She has completed additional training in phlebology (vein medicine) and nutritional medicine. Her specialty: The influence of nutrition and psyche on the skin.
So keep an eye on things and get through the time healthy!
