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Facts About Cataracts

The following article and image is reprinted courtesy of: National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's lens that can cause vision problems. The most common type is related to aging. More than half of all Americans age 65 and older have a cataract. In the early stages, stronger lighting and eyeglasses may lessen vision problems caused by cataracts. At a certain point, however, surgery may be needed to improve vision. Today, cataract surgery is safe and very effective. The lens is the part of the eye that helps focus light on the retina. The retina is the eye's light-sensitive layer that sends visual signals to the brain. In a normal eye, light passes through the lens and gets focused on the retina. To help produce a sharp image, the lens must remain clear.

The lens is made mostly of water and protein. The protein is arranged to let light pass through and focus on the retina. Sometimes some of the protein clumps together. This can start to cloud small areas of the lens, blocking some light from reaching the retina and interfering with vision. This is a cataract. In its early stages, a cataract may not cause a problem. The cloudiness may affect only a small part of the lens. However, over time, the cataract may grow larger and cloud more of the lens, making it harder to see. Because less light reaches the retina, your vision may become dull and blurry. A cataract won't spread from one eye to the other, although many people develop cataracts in both eyes. The most common symptoms of a cataract are: Cloudy or blurry vision. Problems with light. These can include headlights that seem too bright at night; glare from lamps or very bright sunlight; or a halo around lights. Colors that seem faded. Poor night vision. Double or multiple vision (this symptom often goes away as the cataract grows). Frequent changes in your eyeglasses or contact lenses. These symptoms can also be a sign of other eye problems. If you have any of these symptoms, call the center to make an appointment for an eye examination. When a cataract is small, you may not notice any changes in your vision. Cataracts tend to grow slowly, so vision gets worse gradually. Some people with a cataract find that their close-up vision suddenly improves, but this is temporary. Vision is likely to get worse again as the cataract grows.

How is it treated?

For an early cataract, vision may improve by using different eyeglasses, magnifying lenses, or stronger lighting. If these measures don't help, surgery is the only effective treatment. This treatment involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with a substitute, intraocular lens. A cataract needs to be removed when vision loss interferes with your everyday activities, such as driving, reading, or watching TV or if it prevents examination and treatment of other eye problems. You and the doctor will make that decision together. In most cases, waiting until you are ready to have cataract surgery will not harm your eye. If you have cataracts in both eyes, the doctor will not remove them both at the same time. You will need to have each done separately.

Cataract removal is one of the most common operations performed in the U.S. today. It is also one of the safest and most effective. In about 90 percent of cases, people who have cataract surgery have better vision afterward.

In most cataract surgeries, the removed lens is replaced by an intraocular lens (IOL). An IOL is a clear, artificial lens that requires no care and becomes a permanent part of your eye. With an IOL, you'll have improved vision because light will be able to pass through it to the retina. Also, you won't feel or see the new lens.

The Latest Technology :
Cataract Surgery has undergone tremendous technological advances since the days of your parents and grandparents. Until recently, patients undergoing Cataract surgery with a lens implant (IOL), received a monofocal, or single focus IOL. Monofocal IOLs implanted in both eyes generally provide excellent distance vision while patients often require eyeglasses for intermediate and near vision due to presbyopia, a condition that affects everyone as they age, in which the natural lens of the eye looses it's flexibility causing us to loose the ability to accommodate and see clearly in the distance, near, and everywhere in between. Today, intraocular lens technology has taken a giant leap forward. No longer is the objective simply to restore your distance vision with a monofocal IOL. Today, the goal is to enhance your vision with an IOL that may provide you with a full range of vision, thus minimizing your dependence on glasses including, reading glasses or bifocals. For most cataract patients life without reading glasses was something they only dreamed about. But, today with the new IOL lens technology many have already turned that dream into reality, receiving, a high level of glasses free vision.

You can quickly return to many everyday activities, but your vision may be blurry. The healing eye needs time to adjust so that it can focus properly with the other eye, especially if the other eye has a cataract. Ask your doctor when you can resume driving.

Sometimes a part of the natural lens that is not removed during cataract surgery becomes cloudy and may blur your vision. This is called an after-cataract. An after-cataract can develop months or years later. Unlike a cataract, an after-cataract is treated with a laser. In a technique called YAG laser capsulotomy, your doctor uses a laser beam to make a tiny hole in the lens to let light pass through. This is a painless outpatient procedure performed at The Ophthalmic Center by Dr. Basilice.

If you are age 60 or older, you should have an eye examination through dilated pupils once a year. This kind of exam allows the doctor to check for signs of age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, and other vision disorders.