Sperduto R D
Division of Biometry and Epidemiology, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Prev Med. 1994 Sep;23(5):735-9. doi: 10.1006/pmed.1994.1126.
Cataracts develop in the lens of the eye which is responsible for focusing incoming light onto the retina. Early in life the lens is transparent, and incoming light encounters no difficulty in its passage through the eye. With aging, the lens becomes less clear, incoming light is scattered to an increasing degree, and if loss of lens clarity is severe enough, vision is affected. When clouding of the lens impairs vision, a clinically significant cataract is present. Currently there is no medical treatment for age-related cataract. The only treatment is surgical removal of the affected lens when vision is sufficiently impaired. A major goal of past and on-going epidemiologic studies is the identification of risk factors for cataract, so that strategies for the prevention of cataract can be developed.
白内障在眼睛的晶状体中形成，晶状体负责将入射光聚焦到视网膜上。在生命早期，晶状体是透明的，入射光在通过眼睛时不会遇到困难。随着年龄的增长，晶状体变得不那么透明，入射光散射的程度越来越大，如果晶状体透明度的丧失足够严重，视力就会受到影响。当晶状体混浊损害视力时，就存在具有临床意义的白内障。目前，对于年龄相关性白内障尚无药物治疗方法。唯一的治疗方法是在视力受到足够损害时手术摘除受影响的晶状体。过去和正在进行的流行病学研究的一个主要目标是确定白内障的危险因素，以便制定预防白内障的策略。
