Cataract surgery is generally done to restore normal vision. This happens too. There is a significant improvement in the vision of older people after surgery. But there are some other benefits of this surgery as well. The ones you probably don’t know about yet.
Relief from amnesia A
study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) claims that cataract surgery reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and amnesia. In this decades-long study, the researchers included 3038 men and women over the age of 65. Of these, 1382 had cataract surgery. The rest didn’t happen. The researchers found that the risk of dementia and other amnesias was up to 29% lower in the elderly who had surgery.
Researchers also analyzed based on glaucoma surgery, but it did not show any significant effect on dementia disease. Factors such as education, smoking habit, high BP and high BMI were also taken into account of the participants in the study. During this, a big thing was seen that those who had cataract surgery did not have the APOE-E4 gene, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s.
We were surprised to see the results, says Dr. Cecelia S. Lee, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington. According to Dr. Lee, people can argue that when they are healthy enough for surgery, they may not be at risk of dementia in the future. Dr. Lee believes that when we compare it with glaucoma surgery, it becomes clear that cataract disease is not just limited to eye surgery, it has other implications as well.
This study also bolsters the results of earlier research, suggesting that exercising, social interaction, reading or intellectual activities can eliminate important risk factors for intellectual decline with vision and hearing loss.
Increase in gray matter in the brain after cataract surgery
Researchers believe that visual loss may result from lack of input to the brain. This can cause shrinkage in the brain. This is a major risk factor for dementia. Dr. Lee says that previous research has made it clear that after cataract surgery, patients’ brains showed an increase in gray matter. That is, there are definitely some benefits of surgery.
