EP #15: Deconstructing Cataracts: Causes, Medications, and Holistic Health Approaches

Have you ever stopped to consider the health of your eyes? Well, kick back and join us on the Jazzy Eyes Podcast, where our host Dr. Thuy Nguyen sets the stage for an eye-opening conversation about cataracts. We illuminate the different types of cataracts, delve into their various causes and examine the influence of lifestyle and certain medications. Dr. Nguyen details how antipsychotics, heart medications, and steroids, often prescribed for autoimmune diseases, can contribute to early onset cataracts - it's a hidden side effect that's seldom discussed.

Co-host Jeremy Wolf also shares a heartfelt story about his friend's journey from being weighed down by a myriad of prescribed medications to finding healing in plant-based medicine. It's a personal anecdote that underscores the power of holistic health approaches. That being said, Dr. Nguyen clarifies that despite the potential for drugs to induce cataracts, it's crucial to remember that optometrists don't advise patients to stop their prescribed medications. Cataract surgery is a viable treatment option. So pop in those headphones and join us to gain a better understanding of the complexities of cataract causes and treatments, and the impacts of various medications and lifestyle choices on your eye health.

For more information visit: JazzyEyes.com

or contact: (954) 473-0100

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to the Jazzy Eyes podcast. Taking care of your vision with expert precision. Here's your host, dr Tween Nguyen.

Jeremy: 0:15

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Jazzy Eyes podcast. I'm your co-host, jeremy Wolfe, and joined by your host, dr Tween Nguyen. Dr Nguyen fancy meeting you here again so soon.

Dr. Nguyen: 0:27

Hello.

Jeremy: 0:29

We were just talking about cataracts and the various types of cataracts, and then we were getting into some of the causes of cataracts. I'd like to pick it up here. Can you talk a little bit more about the various causes? I know there's some medications and smoking and things of that nature that could have influences in that regard. So please go from there.

Dr. Nguyen: 0:54

Yes, Before we talked about age related cataracts, which really does it affect people until their 50s or 60s, but there are certain cataracts that people they have prematurely as early as 30 years old. One of those cataracts can be induced by certain medications, like you said, such as certain antipsychotics. It could be caused by some antipsychotics.

Jeremy: 1:21

What do antipsychotics have to do with the lens of the eye? That's so counterintuitive.

Dr. Nguyen: 1:26

It's absorbed into the bloodstream, sometimes it can deposit on the lens and it could trigger early cataracts. It's just the way the body absorbs it in the medication. That goes throughout the body.

Jeremy: 1:38

Fascinating.

Dr. Nguyen: 1:39

Yes, certain antipsychotics, some heart medications it's called myodurone. Some heart medications are actually very common Cortical steroids that's a big one. A lot of people are on steroids, such as those that have autoimmune diseases and stuff like that. Most people on autoimmune diseases. They're put on long term steroids and that can trigger early cataracts, as well as tamoxifen, which is a breast cancer drug. Yes, actually very common drugs that are still used today.

Jeremy: 2:13

It's such a shame how so many of the medications out there lead to other side effects that, in many cases, can be worse than the actual thing that it's trying to treat.

Dr. Nguyen: 2:23

Yes, when you listen to those drug commercials, there's a very long list of side effects at the very end.

Jeremy: 2:29

Oh man, Cataracts is one of them.

Dr. Nguyen: 2:30

Yes, yes, you said smoking. Smoking is bad for everything. Every system in the body is what smoking is bad for. It could trigger early cataracts too, just because of the amount of free radicals that it produces. When you smoke damages your lenses.

Jeremy: 2:47

Something about medications. I have my best friend. He was on 15 different pharmaceutical meds. He had a rare autoimmune disorder. He was told that if he stopped taking these medications he could die. He was on prednis. He was on so many different things. He was miserable, he was suicidal. He got into plant medicines and that whole holistic space. He went down the rabbit hole and today he is off every medication.

Dr. Nguyen: 3:20

Good for him His autoimmune disease is cured.

Jeremy: 3:24

He's devoted his life to helping people in that regard. Obviously, there's definitely a place for a lot of these medications, but I think that in our society doctors are too quick to prescribe these things as a quick fix and it causes oftentimes many other problems. It just masks the underlying symptoms in a lot of cases. It's important to bring awareness to that.

Dr. Nguyen: 3:49

Holistic medication is definitely finding its place now, especially after COVID and everything like that. Obviously, even if you have the onset of cataract, we're not going to tell you, hey, you should stop your medications. It's not cataract surgery is something that can be treated with surgery. But we're not going to go be like, hey, you have an autoimmune system, you're taking steroids, stop taking the steroids. It's not our place as an optometrist to say you should stop taking your steroids, of course, of course.

Dr. Nguyen: 4:14

Go talk to your doctor and see what they can do about it.

Jeremy: 4:17

Yeah, Now it's my place to share my plant medicine journeys with folks to get them to open up to that. I'm a licensed professional. Of course, I wanted to also ask you you said there's surgery available. Dr Falco mentioned about how it's done, sometimes in conjunction with a laser, but also with actually cutting. That creates a little bit of apprehension or anxiety for me. Is that surgery? I'd imagine it's pretty dang safe, right.

Dr. Nguyen: 4:48

It's very safe. You are kind of in a twilight zone where you're not completely asleep. But you're in twilight zone. They do a little cut where your cornea is and they kind of they cut up the lens. They stick up an instrument that actually has those I forgot what they're called, but they're sound waves that help cut up the lens inside the eyes and suck it up. So that's cataract surgery in a nutshell and actually surgery. It's not cataract surgery in particular, but certain other eye surgeries can also induce cataracts. Sometimes when the physician is in there, what the in the eye doing surgery? Sometimes the tool can nick or kind of rip the bag of the cataract a little bit and that spirals into cataract, early cataract formation. So sometimes eye surgery can also cause cataracts prematurely. Interesting Cataract surgery to remove a different surgery.

Jeremy: 5:47

Are there any ongoing research or developments in cataract treatment in terms of, I guess, beyond the surgery, are there any other non surgical Treatments that are being developed, non-invasive, or they're not quite there yet At?

Dr. Nguyen: 6:04

the so it's actually gone better over the years. Cataract surgery in that the Incision to take out the lens have become becoming smaller and smaller and smaller, and so the recovery has been quicker. There is no Non-invasive way of taking out the cataracts. There have been eye drops that have been marketed for you to put in your eyes and dissolve the cataract, but really no eye drop can penetrate that deep until the eyes that it can clear up the cataracts. It's just not how it really works.

Jeremy: 6:32

So no, no nanotechnology on the horizon. We're, I could. I could see like an eye drop when it has nanobots inside and you drop them in and it goes in and just cures all the cataract right that should expand more than I dropped.

Dr. Nguyen: 6:49

It's on the, it's on the horizon something, something good just repair everything in your body for you, it should reverse aging, actually, oh, Good stuff, good stuff.

Jeremy: 7:00

Was there anything else that you'd like to share on this subject before we wrap up?

Dr. Nguyen: 7:06

Yeah, just just touch up on just saying other things. I can cause cataracts besides everything that we mentioned. Some people can be born with cataracts. They're called congenital cataracts. It really doesn't affect the vision that much, she's just just a unique characteristic for you. Another thing that can cause cataracts besides the medication, surgery, all of that is trauma. Sometimes people get hit in the head or sometimes there's there's ocular trauma and this results in early formation of cataracts and these kind of concussion maybe what happened?

Jeremy: 7:38

like a concussion.

Dr. Nguyen: 7:40

Yes, I can. I can yep concussions. Those specific cataracts are actually very unique in that they're shaped kind of like flowers, like petaloid. You can actually see petals of the cataracts in the eye and so it's more, it's more indicative of trauma. Very, very interesting well many types of cataracts.

Jeremy: 8:04

All right, well, we will. We will end there, dr Newn. Always a pleasure, always a pleasure. Well, you know I look forward to seeing you next time. I had a little. I had a little cataract of the brain there for a moment, a little in my head. It happens after a long Thanksgiving week with the kids home from school and now, on a Monday, kind of getting back to it.

Dr. Nguyen: 8:35

So yeah, I'll excuse myself.

Jeremy: 8:38

All right, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in and we will look forward to see you on the next episode of the Jazzy eyes podcast. Everyone, have a wonderful day and take care.

Speaker 1: 8:51

Thank you for listening to the Jazzy eyes podcast. For more information, visit Jazzy eyes comm or contact 954 473 0100.