ETYM Latin cataracta, catarracles, a waterfall, Greek, from katarassein to break down; in the passive, to fall or rush down (of tumors) to burst; kata down + arassein to break.
Clouding of the natural lens of the eye.
Eye disease in which the crystalline lens or its capsule becomes cloudy, causing blindness. Fluid accumulates between the fibers of the lens and gives place to deposits of albumin. These coalesce into rounded bodies, the lens fibers break down, and areas of the lens or the lens capsule become filled with opaque products of degeneration. The condition is estimated to have blinded more than 25 million people worldwide, and 150,000 in the UK.
The condition nearly always affects both eyes, usually one more than the other. In most cases, the treatment is replacement of the opaque lens with an artificial implant. + prikaži više