Cataracts affect four out of 10; the problem will increase in Mexico

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Specialists noted that the disease also affects babies who are born with it and diabetics

Between 30% and 40% of the population in Mexico has cataracts, and half of them require surgical intervention to avoid losing their sight, said ophthalmologist Cristina Mendoza, of the department, an anterior segment of the Hospital Nuestra Señora de la Luz, in the CDMX.

The doctor warned that this visual disease will increase in Mexico due to population aging.

“Within the main problems of age is the cataract. If we all lived 100 years, 100% would have cataracts, “he said during his participation in the XXXIV Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology.

The specialist said that in the hospital where she works, like the Association to Avoid Blindness in Mexico and the Institute of Ophthalmology Conde de Valenciana, they detect an average of 150 cataracts a week.

Mendoza explained that cataracts are not exclusive to older adults, despite their prevalence.

“There are congenital cataracts, there are babies born with this condition, however, they are not the only ones, there may be traumatic cataracts, cataracts due to medications, or patients with diabetes,” he said.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world. In the country, it is estimated that 350 thousand people develop this disease every year.

According to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), blindness and visual impairment will be part of the future of the population worldwide.

It is expected that the cases of myopia and diabetic retinopathy, which cause blindness, will triple.

Diabetes, the threat

Type 2 diabetes, caused by obesity and overweight, has gained ground in the increase of cases of diabetic retinopathy, considered the third cause of blindness in the world, but the first in people of working age in development.

“They have increased exponentially in the three hospitals (dedicated exclusively to visual health care and research in the country). Both the consultations and the laser procedures for their treatment “, declared Cristina Mendoza, before the health alert for diabetes in Mexico since 2016.

He said that a diabetic can develop retinopathy after eight or 10 years of diagnosis, however some cases are before, due to carelessness and not controlling their glucose levels.

Therefore, he advised that the ophthalmological treatment go hand in hand with his control of sugar. 

Source: excelsior

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