Estrogens and cataract
Ivanchenko Y. F.

Outpatient hospital № 52, Moscow

Cataract is the main cause of impaired vision among adults, and the major cause of reversible blindness in the world for people aged 50 and older. The frequency of cataracts increases significantly with the age and that is typical for women. Moreover, its appearance coincides with the emergence of estrogen deficiency during menopause. Menopause is a physiological period in a woman's life, characterized by involutive changes in the body and a decrease of hormonal function of the reproductive system. During this period the ovarian function gradually "fades" and estrogen synthesis decreases. Estrogen is the general name of a subclass of steroid hormones produced mainly by the follicular apparatus of the women’ ovaries. The symptoms of their deficiency are manifested in the development of various pathologies. They affect almost all the organs and systems. Recent epidemiological data provide some evidence that estrogen and hormone replacement therapy may be play a protective role in the development of age-related cataracts. In the arsenal of an ophthalmologist there are drugs for the conservative treatment of cataract, which are used in the initial stage of the disease. Preference should be given to the use of the drugs, which improve metabolic processes in the lens, for example, Catalin, which slows down the development of cataract, and can be used by ophthalmologists as a part of conservative therapy before the surgical treatment or in case of impossibility of surgery.

Key words: estrogen, menopause, cataract, anticataract drugs, Сatalin.
For citation: Ivanchenko Y. F. Estrogens and cataract // RMJ. Clinical ophthalmology. 2017. № 1. P. 53–54.