Use of certain medications can cause cataracts, as their side effects can affect the eyes, cause toxic reactions or increase eye sensitivity to the sun, which can lead to early development of this disease.
However, it should not be forgotten that there are other more common causes of this disease, even in those who use this type of medication, such as aging, excessive sun exposure, eye inflammation and diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol and hormonal changes.for example Example.
- Cataracts are the main cause of curable blindness.
- Being more common in the elderly.
- This disease is characterized by the opacity of the lens.
- A kind of lens of the eye.
- Which causes a gradual loss of vision.
- Due to the absorption of light and the perception of colors are altered.
- Learn more about cataract symptoms and their main causes.
Some of the main remedies that can cause cataracts include
Corticosteroids are widely used drugs to control immunity and inflammation in the body, however, their chronic use for weeks, months or consecutive years can cause various side effects, including cataracts.
About 15-20% of chronic corticosteroid users, in the form of eye drops or pills, depending on the needs of people with diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma or inflammatory bowel disease, for example, may develop cataracts.
Discover the other side effects that chronic corticosteroid use can cause in the body.
Some antibiotics, such as erythromycin or sulfa, may increase the risk of developing cataracts, especially if used for a long time or often, and this is due to increased sensitivity of the eyes to light, which favors greater absorption of UV rays.Objective.
Isotretinoin, known commercially as Roacutan, used to treat acne, causes severe eye irritation and sensitivity to light, resulting in eye toxicity and risk of lens alteration.
Some antidepressants, such as fluoxetine, sertraline and citalopram, used to treat depression and anxiety, for example, may increase the risk of developing cataracts.
This effect is rare, but it can occur because these drugs increase the amount of Serotonin in the brain and the action of this substance in the lens can cause reactions that increase opacity and can lead to cataracts.
People who continually use antihypertensive beta blockers, such as propranolol or carvedilol, for example, are more likely to develop cataracts because they can stimulate the formation of deposits in the lens.
In addition, amiodarone, a drug for the control of arrhythmias, can also cause this accumulation of deposits in the cornea, in addition to having a great irritating effect on the eyes.
In the case of the use of these drugs, by medical recommendation, they should not be discontinued because they have significant effects on the health of those who perform the treatment, however, it is recommended to follow up with the ophthalmologist to control vision and early.detection of any changes in the eyes or the risk of changes in vision.
In addition, other important attitudes that must be taken in daily life, to prevent cataracts, include:
In addition, when cataracts have already developed, the ophthalmologist may recommend surgery to reverse it, in which the opaque lens is removed and replaced with a new lens, restoring vision.Learn more about how to proceed and how to recover from cataract surgery.