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There is a new breakthrough that is being brought up with the latest research that the statin medications reduce the risk of cataracts. This is an amazing breakthrough where a lot of people who are using the statin medications can now have a hope of reducing the risk of the cataracts. In this article we are going to discuss in detail about the different facts regarding the cataract, as well as the statin medications, as well as what did the researchers commented on the statin medications lowering the cataracts.

Cataracts are commonly considered by the people as a membrane that comes over the eye that reduces the vision of the individuals that causes them to see the images that are either double or blur. The cataract is not formed over the eye but is formed within the eye. In the cataract, there is clouding of the lens that is located behind the iris and is attached to it and is present in front of the vitreous humor. The lens is responsible to converge the image on the retina and that is how we are able to see the things in their right dimensions, but if the lens is being clouded then we are not able to see the objects, near of far. The lens is present in a capsule and as the old cells die, they are trapped within the capsule and with the passage of time these cells causes the lens to cloud and causes the vision to become poor. We can also say that the cataracts occur due to the result of aging in a lot of individuals. It is also best to mention here that the cataracts are a cause of loss of vision in about the individuals who are 55 years or older. The other factors that are known to cause cataracts are the eye injuries, medications as well as diabetes and alcoholism. There are millions of people throughout the world who are suffering from cataracts.

Now we will focus on the statins; the statins are drugs that are used to decrease the level of cholesterol in the blood. The statin medications that are used are known as simvastatin, whose brand name is Zocor and pravastatin, also known ans Lipostat. Now the question that arises is that why the different individuals need these drugs, the answer is very simple and that there are millions of people throughout the world who are suffering from cardiovascular diseases and millions die throughout the world because of heart attacks or strokes. The statin medications can reduce the risk of having heart attacks or strokes in many individuals and thus it increases the life expectancy in people who are suffering from heart diseases.

Now if we look into things a little further, we know that there are two types of cholesterol in the body, one is known as LDL, which is also known as the low density lipoproteins and the other is known as the HDL, which is also known as the high density lipoprotein. Now the low density lipoprotein is a bad cholesterol whereas the high density lipoprotein is known as the good cholesterol. The LDL cholesterol causes the arteries to block and thus results in impaired circulation to the heart as well as the brain and also to the different organ systems and due to the decreased blood flow to the heart, it causes the development of the cardiovascular diseases. If we think for a moment, the arteries that are supplying blood to the heart are blocked, then this can result in a heart attack. On the other hand if we look at the role of the high density lipoprotein or the HDL, we will see that it clears up the bad cholesterol and transports it to the liver where it is being broken down. Therefore when the blood is being checked for cholesterol, it is checked for LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, as well as the ratio of the HDL to the total cholesterol.
Now it is really important for us to understand that what kind of the diets are we eating every day, is our diet healthy or our diet is something that has a lot of bad fats in it, if we are eating the bad fats, we must know that this can be really harmful to our bodies and we can be one of the individuals who can be really affected from the bad cholesterol and this can be really damaging to our health in the longer run. Therefore we need to be wise in selecting our diets so that we make the right decisions and choices as to what we are eating.

The way the statin medications work is that they work by blocking an enzyme that works in the production of the LDL cholesterol, especially in the liver and this enzyme that works in the formation of the LDL cholesterol is known as the HMG CoA reductase and hence statins are the most effective medicines to stop the formation of the LDL cholesterol and thus lowers the levels of the LDL cholesterol in our body to a great degree. Thus the statin medications are for those people who are unable to control their high levels of LDL cholesterol through changes in their diet.

As there are benefits of the statin medications, there are also risks or side effects that are present as well, which includes headaches, insomnia, diarrhea, feeling of sickness, muscular pain, tenderness and weakness. There is also a word of advice that the doctors give that if the individual who is taking the statin medication experiences any muscle pain or weakness, then they should immediately contact their physicians. It is also being said that the individuals who are taking the statin medications they should take care if they have a history of liver problems or they have a history of high alcohol consumption. Those individuals who have liver problems, are pregnant, breast feeding or have severe kidney disease must avoid the statin medications.

Now since we now have a basic information of the cataracts and statin drugs, we will see as to how the statin medications reduce the risk of the cataracts. It was found in a study that the adults who were taking the statin medications were 45 percent less likely to develop the age related cataracts. This study was based on about 1299 individuals who were being followed for a span of about five years. It was found that the nuclear cataracts that affects the nucleus of the lens was diagnosed in about 12 percent of the statin users as compared to the 17 percent of people who were not using the statin drugs and thus the researchers concluded that the statin drugs result in the prevention of the nuclear cataracts in individuals who are taking it.

It was also revealed that the statin drugs have an antioxidant effect that reduces the inflammation and thus helps prevent the development of cataracts because oxygen damage to the body and inflammation are considered to be factors contributing to the cataracts. Right now, there are about 20 million Americans who are suffering from cataracts, which is a major culprit of causing blindness in such large numbers of people and in them the people with old age are pretty prominent ones.

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