To prevent cataract (cataract), attention must be paid to reducing individual risk factors.
Behavioral risk factors
- Diet
- Micronutrient deficiency (vital substances) – the eye lens of healthy patients shows significantly lower concentration of ascorbic acid compared to patients with cataract. In the eye, constant contact with sunlight produces free radicals, which are neutralized by ascorbic acid, preventing oxidation of sensitive proteins. Supplementation of 300-600 mg of vitamin C per day reduces the risk of cataract by a factor of four – see Prevention with micronutrients.
- Consumption of stimulants
- Tobacco (smoking) – early cessation of smoking reduces the likelihood in men that cataract surgery will be necessary
- Physical activity
- Physical inactivity – Study participants with highest physical activity had 13% lower risk of cataract compared with the most physically inactive quartile (OR/odds ratio of cataract development: 0.87)
- Overweight (BMI ≥ 25; obesity) – the RR (relative risk) for age-related cataracts for overweight and obese adults, respectively, was 1.08 and 1.19
Environmental exposure – intoxications (poisonings).
- Exposure to electromagnetic energy – lightning starvation
- Exposure to radiation – radiation cataract, e.g.
- Intense solar radiation (UV-A, UV-B, infrared radiation) or infrared radiation – e.g., glass blowers.
- X-rays – e.g. doctors in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
- Thermal influences – fire star (infrared radiation).
Other risk factors
- Foreign body or external injury to the lens of the eye.
