Cataract surgery houston,Laser cataract surgery houston
A new article in the New York Times this week sheds some new, really exciting light, on another bad thing that cataract surgery helps patients avoid. We once wrote a blog about a study which proved that Cataract Surgery statistically helped patients avoid falling, and therefore, avoid injuries, so this new study – sharing that patients may have a reduced risk of developing dementia after cataract surgery – is a wonderful thing to add to that list!
The new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that older adults who underwent cataract removal to restore their vision had a LOWER risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Earlier research has proven that hearing loss and vision loss could both lead to ‘cognitive decline’ and it was believed that this was due to the result that comes from those losses (hearing or vision) – where people would stop physical activities and social interaction due to those losses. However, another recent study showed that it could be a physiological reason where there was an increase in the brain’s gray matter volume after cataract surgery. The visual cortex is affected by vision loss and when we lose vision, it lessens input to our brains which leads to our brains shrinking – a major risk factor for dementia. This new study really correlates with previous research, giving researchers a lot of reason to believe that there is validity to this research.
Now, what will this research mean? How does this help us?
Primary care physicians, and all doctors in primary care clinics, where memory is treated in their patients, should look at screening for visual decline. This gives PCP’s the opportunity to introduce the importance of cataract surgery and improving one’s vision – as well as sharing the potential brain health improvements that could come of the procedure.
Our team at Slade & Baker Vision, has always known the importance and benefits of Cataract Surgery, but this new research brings a new important piece of information that can help our patients in other really critical aspects of their lives, like their memories. So outside of the danger of older Americans falling and suffering terrible consequences, now, a procedure we provide weekly to our patients, could be helping them keep their memory.
If you suspect you have lost some vision or that a loved one has suffered some vision loss, please do not hesitate to call our office for an evaluation with one of our Cataract specialists – so that we can help determine whether surgery is a recommended option for you. Call us at 713-626-5544 or inquire at info@visiontexas.com .
