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Query: UMLS:C0086543 (cataract)
 29,165 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cataract is responsible for 50% of world blindness, with at present an estimated backlog of 13.5 million cases in need of surgery. Low-cost cataract surgery must be made more available in developing countries, making use of alternative approaches for outpatient surgery and optimal management of available resources. Trachoma control needs to be targeted at the worst affected areas in endemic countries, with more emphasis on behavioural, educational and community aspects of the disease. Vitamin A deficiency and xerophthalmia control are becoming matters of maternal and child health care, with early intervention during infancy in view of the mortality issue. There are good prospects for the prevention of blindness from onchocerciasis, through the availability of ivermectin, but large-scale distribution schemes are still needed in most of the African countries concerned. The early detection and management of open-angle glaucoma still poses a major problem in developing countries, and further development of appropriate technology is needed in this field. Another area where more efforts are needed is ocular trauma, which is commonly the cause of unilateral loss of vision. General preventive measures must be enforced and better training provided to health personnel to deal competently with such cases, in order to prevent late complications. Diabetes, finally, is on the increase in many developing countries, giving rise to problems in dealing effectively with the ensuing retinopathy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Present challenges in the global prevention of blindness. 138 40

In India are approximately 4 million blind people by advanced or mature cataract. For only 10 US$ one patient can be operated in eye camps in the villages by an intracapsular cataract cryoextraction an + 12.00 dptr. aphakia glasses. Also estimated four million people are blind by xerophthalmia. The project is to examine all the babies and little children in the villages and to give them for 2 years each month vitamin-A-medication. On the other side the parents of children suffering from xerophthalmia are instructed to plant vegetables rich in vitamin A. The goal of both projects is to make a cataract and xerophthalmia free zone in Uttar Pradesh, which should spread over the entire country. Both projects are sponsored by Combat Blindness Foundation, P.O. Box 5, 332 Madison Wisconsin 53705 USA, Professor Suresh Chandra, chairman.
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PMID:[Cataract Eye Camp in India, Xerophthalmia Project. Experiences last January within the scope of the Combat Blindness Foundation at the Sitapur Ophthalmology Hospital in India]. 161 64

Cataract is the first blinding disease in VIETNAM. Its frequency was studied in Central VIETNAM. Trachoma and xerophthalmia are very common. The evaluation of the prevention program against blindness in Central Areas of VIETNAM is set up. The authors point out an important improvement of the situation. Nevertheless they stress the necessity of carrying on the anti-trachomatous and anti-xerophthalmic campaign. A higher number of cataract operations could be performed since a sufficient number of operating kits was allowed.
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PMID:[Epidemiology of trachoma and vision disorders in central Viet Nam]. 166 40

This article provides a survey of the problems of prevention of blindness in developing countries. The World Health Organization estimates that 31 million people are blind and 15 million people partially-sighted. The main cause of blindness is cataract. Other causes are trachoma, glaucoma, xerophthalmia, river blindness, corneal scars and leprosy. Prevention or treatment of these causes is possible in more than 80% of cases. The number of blind persons, however, is still increasing due to the increase in population and the immense shortage of all kinds of ophthalmological equipment and personnel. An effective strategy for the prevention of blindness in developing countries should focus on: more cheap cataract operations, increasing teaching facilities for ophthalmic personnel, integration of ophthalmic care into the general health system and the promotion of blindness prevention in political organizations.
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PMID:Points of action in the campaign against blindness in developing countries. 179 Jul 53

A prevalence survey of ophthalmic disease was conducted among the Turkana tribe in northwest Kenya. Altogether 900 people were examined in different sites of the semiarid and arid Turkana region. The findings show the prevalence of blindness to be 1.1% and the prevalence of blindness in one eye to be 6.8%. The major causes of blindness up to age 35 were corneal disease from xerophthalmia and trachoma and above age 45 cataract. Trauma was a major cause of monocular blindness. The prevalence of trachoma and its complications was 42.8% and the prevalence of cataract 5.2%. Cataract begins to form at an early age (25-35). The prevalence of xerophthalmia was 44%. These findings are similar to previously reported studies in Africa, especially in semiarid areas. The main remedy lies in improvement of education and the environment.
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PMID:A prevalence survey of ophthalmic diseases among the Turkana tribe in north-west Kenya. 231 Jul 32

Primary eye care in rural sub-Saharan Africa is reviewed. In the context of eye care delivered by village health workers (VHW's) living in and supported by the community, such a system of health care does not exist in Africa today. There are no VHW's, and primary health care is currently a matter of experimentation and conjecture only. However, most basic eye care is rendered by non-ophthalmologists; such care consists of screening, treatment of infections and inflammations, and in some cases, cataract surgery. Lower levels of non-ophthalmic general health workers are being tasked to promote measures to prevent trachoma and xerophthalmia/nutritional blindness by intervention at the village level. Preliminary results of such programs are encouraging, and warrant further evaluation and expansion.
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PMID:Primary eye care in rural sub-Saharan Africa. 289 52

In recent years, blindness in developing nations has been increasingly recognized as a public health problem requiring new approaches. To better prepare eye care professionals to assume their multidisciplinary responsibilities as epidemiologists, health planners, administrators, and educators, a new conceptual model is presented. This eye care plan and delivery scheme for developing nations attempts to integrate three essential disciplines of blindness prevention (epidemiology, administration, and education) with six major causes of blindness (cataract, trachoma, glaucoma, xerophthalmia, onchocerciasis, and leprosy) at three levels of intervention (community, primary, and secondary). The result can be conceptualized as a three-dimensional geometric model. This spatial construct has many practical applications and should serve as a useful frame of reference for eye care professionals and organizations active in international ophthalmology and blindness prevention in developing countries.
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PMID:Public health ophthalmology: a comprehensive model for the prevention of blindness in developing nations. 369 89

Among the four diseases of greatest concern to the WHO Programme for the Prevention of Blindness--trachoma, onchocerciasis, xerophthalmia and cataract--the first and the last alone have blinded some 26 million people. But the present toll of avoidable blindness in developing countries can be reduced by 50% over the next ten years.
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PMID:Trachoma and cataract: two WHO targets. 384 89

From 50.000 patients treated at Eye Department of University Hospital of Kinshasa (Zaire), 944 or 19% were registered legal blind. The male-to-female ratio was 2/1 and 24% of legal blind were in the age group of 0-19 years corresponding to preschool and school period. Blindness incidence increased with advancing age. Glaucoma (31%) was by far the commonest cause of blindness in our sample and in all age groups. Cataract (18,4%) and optic atrophy (16,3%) respectively came in the second and the third position. Only cataract not treatable surgically was considered. Onchocerciasis (4,9%) appeared in the fourth position but this evaluation is a minimal one because Kinshasa is situated far away from some important endemic areas and villages. Onchocerciasis was absent among legally blind younger than 20 years, its importance increased with advancing age. Trachoma is unknown in Zaire and was absent from our list of blinding ocular diseases. Xerophthalmia and keratomalacia in its typical form was rarely a cause of blindness. The common blinding affections in developed countries such as, senile macular degeneration, hereditary chorioretinal dystrophies, diabetic retinopathy are poorly represented in our statistics. Some prophylactic and therapeutic suggestions are given: Persons with glaucoma are generally examined very late, and are difficult to be treated by either rigorous application of current miotics or surgical techniques for glaucoma. Pilocarpine with high concentration (4%, 6%) alone or associated to Timolol gives usually rather good tonometric results. Filtering operations for glaucoma (Elliot trepanation, trabeculectomy) can improve or stabilize the glaucoma but in some cases no improvement is noted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Causes of blindness in Zaire]. 650 84

The WHO Programme for the Prevention of Blindness was established in 1978, reflecting the need for action against the burden of avoidable blindness, which constitutes an increasingly serious socioeconomic problem in many countries. A vast majority of the world's blind live in developing countries, where unoperated cataract, trachoma, xerophthalmia and onchocerciasis are the main causes of visual loss. Thus, more than two-thirds of blindness encountered in such areas is either preventable or curable. The objectives of the WHO Programme for the Prevention of Blindness are to reduce the amount of avoidable blindness in developing countries, and to make essential eye care available to all. In order to achieve this, blindness prevention must form part of primary health care, which is the basic strategy of the World Health Organization to attain the overall goal of "Health for All by the Year 2000". Emphasis is placed on the establishment of national programmes for the prevention of blindness, geared to local needs and resources. This implies a need for a careful programming process, in relation to the general provision of health services.
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PMID:World Health Organization's programme on the prevention of blindness. 666 68


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