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Show Advice on Your Health By Morris Fithboin, Editor, Journal American Medical Association The term, "cataract," refers to a condition In which the lens of the eye becomes clouded. The lens Is a crystalline substance. Is used to focus light on the beck of the eye. A cataract Is not a film growing across the eye. It Is a physical change In the tissue which Is like the frosting of a clear wtndowglase. In surgical treatment of cataract cata-ract the lens Is removed. It becomes be-comes necessary, therefore, to wear eyeglasses which help to focus the light properly on the retina at the back of the eye, after an operation. For many years all sorts of so-called medical treatments for cataract have been promoted to the public. Today, people do not fear operations as much as they used to, but nowadays medicine medi-cine advances so rapidly and there are so many remarkable discoveries that people are Inclined In-clined to be even more credulous then they used to be. Dr. Allen Greenwood hss pointed out that about 40 years ago, electricity and various kinds of shocks were being used to make people with cataracts think they were seeing better. Some charlatans drop drugs Into the eye to dilate the pupil. Then the patient aeee around the cataract cata-ract and thinks that his vision , Is improving. But of course, the dilation wears off, and the patient pa-tient realizes that he has been victimised. Today it can be said with certainty cer-tainty that no one Is able to cure a cataract with drops or medicaments applied to the eye. Usually the person who Is treated In this manner is given some good medical advice about his diet and living, which tends to mske him feel better. Frequently the eyeglasses can be changed to advantage during the time when the patient Is making up his mind to have an operative procedure. There la an advantage in having the patient pa-tient come regularly for inspection inspec-tion so that the progress of the cataract can be determined. It la not desirable, however, for a patient with a cataract to wait until he has become completely blind before having an operation. opera-tion. There Is no evidence that any of the vitamins now known Is specific In stopping the growth and development of a cataract . or in curing one. The rate at which the cloudiness cloudi-ness Increases varies with every patient. Sometimes there may be a little cloudiness which will remain static for years before It becomes sufficient to cause real distress. |