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CORTISONE PUFFERS & CATARACTS

Posted , 4 users are following.

jude65855
jude65855

I'm booked in for surgery on my right eye cataract in about a month's time and was told by the surgeon that it's a classic cortisone caused fast accelerating cataract.   I asked my pulmonary practice nurse about cortisone & cataracts a while ago and she said the amount which gets into the rest of the body via the lungs is too small to cause cataracts:  I've now let her know that the surgeon says differently and also said that she often sees this.

I'm wondering how many other people on coritsone puffers for COPD have been lulled into a false sense of security about this?   I should say I would still have used the puffer because prior to it being prescribed I was coughing almost contiually and to quote one doctor:  "Most of us are going to get cataracts anyway if we live long enough."

I'm wondering what other people's experience has been in relation to this connecdtion?   I posted similarly on the COPD forum and no-one there seemed to be aware of it.

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • dennis63948
    dennis63948 jude65855

    Posted

    I have a friend who had very quick onset of cloudy lens and had to have both cataracts done. The surgeon said that this can be brought on by steriods, which your doctor may be talking about. Corticosteriods are referred to in this article from the well respected Mayo clinic in the States.

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/steroids/art-20045692

     

    • jude65855
      jude65855 dennis63948

      Posted

      Thanks for the link, but it only gives 2 negative effects of inhaled cortisone:  oral thrush and hoarseness, which are hardly anything to worry about, so it in fact contradicts what the surgeon told me about how widespread she's found puffer caused fast deteriorating cataracts to be .....    That already contradicts what the practice nurse told me and now I'm wondering if the other negative effects listed for ORAL corisone also apply to puffers  -  any ideas/experience, anyone? 
  • gill70346
    gill70346 jude65855

    Posted

    I do not have COPD but do have uveitis (eye contition) as a result of which I have been on steroids for a number of years and was told by my opthalmologist about 5 years ago I was likely to develop cataracts as a result. In fact I had the cataracts operated on last October and this March.

    Apparently it is a very well known side effect of all steroids if you have to take them on at least a daily basis for any length of time you will rapidly develop cataracts.

    • jude65855
      jude65855 gill70346

      Posted

      Have you been on oral cortisone or puffers?  The negative effects of longterm oral steroids are well known:  what I'm trying to find out is whether exactly the same applies to puffers
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