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Cataract
(PH001)

Introduction

A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens inside the eye. Age-related cataract is the world's most frequent cause of curable blindness. However, cataracts can also be congenital due to injury or hereditary causes.

Three main types of lens opacity are described in age-related cataract: nuclear (the nucleus of the lens), cortical (cortex) and posterior subcapsular (the back for the membrane surrounding the lens). Although cortical cataract is probably the most frequent type, nuclear and posterior subcapsular cataracts (which primarily affect the optical axis of the eye lens) are the types of cataract that more frequently cause visual deterioration and prompt persons to seek surgical intervention.

Initial treatment often consists of stronger eyeglasses or contact lenses. Once a clouded lens develops, surgical removal is the only treatment. However, the decision to surgically remove cataracts should be based on the person's own perception of vision difficulties and need and the effect of vision loss on normal activity.

Cataract surgery has become one of the most frequently performed outpatient surgeries in North America with more than 1.2 million cataract surgical procedures each year.

MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information

The Medifocus Guide on Cataract provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:


What Your Doctor Reads:

This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:


MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information

MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.

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