The Human Lens: A Living Biometric Indicator of Health Status and Successful Aging

The human lens is essential for vision, but also a living biometric indicator of health. The environment, a myriad number of ocular and systemic diseases and aging itself, often simultaneously impact upon the health of this living tissue. Yet with few exceptions, twenty first century eye doctors ignore the individual and public health importance of the human lens by describing its state with simple qualitative nomenclature, handwritten drawings, and disposing of this tissue upon cataract extraction. Because the lens maintains intimate associations with health, vision, successful aging, and even individual life expectancy, the authors review in office high tech lens monitoring instruments that can positively impact both individuals and societies. New handheld low tech and high tech cataract monitoring technology enables individualized assessment of progressive incremental lifestyle changes that impact on his/her lens health and mortality. The lens is also useful for identifying our most vulnerable patients—those with the lowest intake of nutrients where broad-spectrum multivitamin/mineral supplementation has shown the greatest efficacy.