[Anthropogenic catatacts (author's transl)]

Abstract

The traditional theories of senile cataract formation have one common denominator. Nearly all the agents and factors heretofore ascribed as causes of cataract formation have some element involving a potent crosslinking agent. The factors considered in this paper include endocrine and metabolic factors, involutional and hereditary influences, nutritional deficiencies, osmotic changes, ionizing radiation, ultraviolet light, altered capsular permeability, and the cumulative effects of subliminal exposure to noxae. Throughout life, the human lens is exposed to the influence of numerous potent crosslinking agents and it now appears that the cumulative actions of crosslinkage is the chief cause of senile cataracts. If this theory proves to be correct, it will offer some hope that cataract formation can be retarded by agents which counteract crosslinkage or by avoidance of excessive exposure to crosslinking agents.