What does cataract mean in Egypt?
The word cataract comes from the Greek word Katarakhtes meaning "waterfall". In ancient times, Upper Egypt extended from the Nile Delta to the first cataract. Further upstream, in what is modern Sudan, the land was later controlled by the Kingdom of Kush.
What is the 1st cataract in Egypt?
The Nile River is shown above passing the granite islands that form the first cataract at Aswan City, Egypt. Cataracts occur where outcrops of granite, as well as other resistant rocks, reach the banks of the Nile River.
How did cataracts help Egyptians?
Nile's cataracts helped and hurt Egypt by flooding every year and bringing down boulders and trees. The Egyptians were protected from invaders due to their geographical features. Furthermore the cataracts in the Nile to the south protected the Egyptians from lands below them. The cataracts were river rapids.
How did cataracts affect Egypt and Nubia?
How did the cataracts of the Nile affect Nubian trade? The cataracts prevented Nubians from trading by traveling on the river, so Nubian trade routes had to be over land.
What is a cataract in a river?
cataract, a waterfall (q.v.), especially one containing great volumes of water rushing over a precipice.
How many cataracts are in the Nile in Egypt?
Answer. Yes, the Nile's most significant rapids are the six “Cataracts of the Nile.” The Cataracts of the Nile are a long, shallow stretch of the river between Khartoum, Sudan, and Aswan, Egypt. 7. Is there a dam on the Nile?
What does cataract mean in geography?
a waterfall cataract, a waterfall (q.v.), especially one containing great volumes of water rushing over a precipice.
Did ancient Egyptians perform cataract surgery?
The first recorded case of cataract surgery dates back to the fifth century BC. However, artifacts from ancient Egypt and other places have shown that various ancient civilizations have performed their own cataract surgery.
What is a cataract in history?
Cataracts may actually be one of the first ailments people attempted to treat surgically. Our earliest records of it date back to 600 BC. In those days, they used something called the “couching” technique, which involved smacking the eye with a blunt object until the lens dislodged entirely.
What is cataract in world history?
Cataract dates to the 14th century and comes from the Latin word cataracta, meaning "portcullis." The Latin pertains to the ocular cataract, probably because it obstructs one's vision much like the portcullis's heavy iron grating obstructs passage into a fortress or castle.
Why is a waterfall called a cataract?
The term “cataract” is derived from the Latin, “cataracta” which means “waterfall” and the Greek” katarhaktes” which means “waterfall, broken water; swooping, rushing down”.
What is the difference between a cataract and a waterfall?
A cataract is a type of waterfall with a large, single vertical drop, usually falling clear of the bedrock. A cascade waterfall is used to describe a waterfall running over an irregular steep surfaced gradient where the water is generally in contact with the river bedrock.
What is cataract Africa?
Senile cataract is a non-preventable disease of aging, having its biggest impact in the over-60 age group. Published clinic and hospital data, population-based surveys and World Health Organization estimates indicate that 1.2% of the entire population of Africa is blind, and that cataract causes 36% of this blindness.
Who first did cataract surgery?
The first true cataract extraction was performed in 1747, in Paris, by the French surgeon Jacques Daviel.
How did they remove cataracts in the old days?
One of the earliest surgical interventions for cataracts, dating as early as the 5th century BC, was a technique called couching, which comes from the french word “coucher” meaning “to put to bed.” In this method, a sharp needle is used to pierce the eye near the limbus until the provider can manually dislodge the …
Why is cataract called cataract?
The word cataract comes from the Latin word “cataracta” meaning waterfall, with the condition possibly therefore named after the white appearance of rapidly running water.
What does cataract mean in Latin?
"Cataract" is derived from the Latin cataracta, meaning "waterfall", and from the Ancient Greek καταρράκτης (katarrhaktēs), "down-rushing", from καταράσσω (katarassō) meaning "to dash down" (from kata-, "down"; arassein, "to strike, dash").
Why do so many people in Africa have Cataracts?
Vitamin A is a vitamin directly linked to eye health, so there is likely a correlation between vitamin A deficiency in Mali and the prevalence of cataracts in the country.
Why do kids in Africa get Cataracts?
Among cases for which a cause could be identified, heredity is the most common etiology of congenital cataracts (6). Congenital and develop- mental cataract may be caused by mutations in specific genes (7,8). Cataract in children may also be the result of intrauterine infection or be associated with syndromes.
Who invented cataract surgery Islam?
Cataract Surgery in the Islamic World Building on previous techniques in the Ancient world, 10th century Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi developed a cataract surgery technique that used Antyllus' suction equipment.
Why do so many people in Africa have cataracts?
Vitamin A is a vitamin directly linked to eye health, so there is likely a correlation between vitamin A deficiency in Mali and the prevalence of cataracts in the country.
Why do Indian children get cataracts?
It is found to affect 15 out of every 10,000 births in India. Childhood cataract is due to infections contracted during pregnancy, congenital defects, and also development defects. India has 2,80,000 to 3,20,000 visually impaired children, and childhood cataract accounts for nearly 14 per cent of the cases.
How did Muslims remove cataracts?
In treating cataracts, the technique commonly employed was couching. This method consisted of pushing the lens of the eye out of the way by inserting into the eye a needle or probe through the edge of the cornea. Infection and glaucoma were the major causes for failure.
Where did cataract surgery originate?
The first true cataract extraction was performed in 1747, in Paris, by the French surgeon Jacques Daviel. His procedure was more effective than couching, with an overall success rate of 50%.
Why do so many people in India have cataracts?
Cataract refers to a clouding of the lens of the eye causing gradual loss of vision. It is common in old age but can also be triggered by injuries to the eye. Diabetes, of which India has a very high burden (approximately 6.92 crore) is also known to hasten cataract formation.
What causes cataract?
Most cataracts develop when aging or injury changes the tissue that makes up the eye's lens. Proteins and fibers in the lens begin to break down, causing vision to become hazy or cloudy. Some inherited genetic disorders that cause other health problems can increase your risk of cataracts.
Who invented cataracts?
In the 10th-century, Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi described the procedure and attributed it to a 2nd-century Greek physician Antyllus.
Did the Egyptians do cataract surgery?
Ancient Cataract Procedures Ancient artifacts found on the tomb of King Khasekhemwy, dating back to 2700 BC, prove that the ancient Egyptians operated on the cataract at that time.
Why are there so many blind kids in India?
The major causes of the remaining blindness included congenital eye anomalies (16.7%) and retinal degeneration (16.7%). Conclusion: In the context of Vision 2020, the priorities for action to reduce childhood blindness in India are refractive error, cataract related amblyopia, and corneal diseases.
Do Indians blind children?
The Indian perspective on childhood blindness The current prevalence of blindness in children is known to be around 0.8/1000. (3,4) The prevalence is likely to be affected by the methodology used to estimate the blindness such as community-based surveys and locations like rural or urban settings.