What are Cataracts:
A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s naturally clear lens. Your eye becomes like a window that is frosted or yellowed.
What You Need To Do:
If your vision is blurry, you should schedule a vision consultation for an examination immediately. This will also rule out any other reasons for blurred vision.
Why It’s Important:
Cataracts are a common cause of vision loss, especially as we age, but they are treatable.
Symptoms
Common symptoms of cataract include:
- a painless blurring of vision;
- light sensitivity
- poor night vision
- double vision in one eye;
- needing a brighter light to read;
- colors looking faded or yellow.
The cloudiness and pattern of a cataract can vary. If the cloudiness is to the side of your field of vision, you may not be aware that you have a cataract.
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There are many misconceptions about cataract. Cataract is not a film over the eye. A cataract does not spread from one eye to the other, nor is it a cause of irreversible blindness.
How quickly the cataract develops varies among individuals and may even be different between the two eyes. Most age-related cataracts progress gradually over a period of years.
Other cataracts, especially in younger people and people with diabetes, may progress rapidly over a short time. It is not possible to predict exactly how fast cataracts will develop in any given person.
Treatment
Surgery is the only way a cataract can be removed. Learn More about
Cataract Surgery Options.
However, if symptoms of a cataract are not bothering you, surgery may not be needed. Sometimes a simple change in your eyeglass prescription will help. Also, wearing glasses and sunglasses that screen out ultraviolet (UV) light can slow the growth of a cataract.
Cataract surgery is a highly successful procedure. Improved vision is the result in over 95% of cases, unless there is a problem with the cornea, retina, optic nerve or other structures.
Cataract surgery can be performed when your visual needs require it. During cataract surgery the cloudy lens is removed from the eye. In most cases, a permanent intraocular lens is implanted.
We will ask you if your vision allows you to do daily tasks like cooking, shopping, or taking medications without difficulty. Based on your symptoms, we will discuss with you whether or not surgery is appropriate and when.
Other conditions may prevent you from having much improvement in vision after cataract surgery. We can tell you how much visual improvement is likely. If improvement in your vision is unlikely, cataract removal may not be recommended.
No medications, dietary supplements or exercises have been shown to prevent or cure cataracts.
Cataract Testing / Diagnosis
By performing a thorough eye examination, your ophthalmologist can detect the presence of a cataract. A careful exam will also rule out any other conditions.
Problems with other parts of the eye (such as the cornea, retina or optic nerve) can be responsible for vision loss.
Causes/Risk Factors
The most common type of cataract is related to aging. In an age-related cataract, the center of the lens gradually hardens and becomes cloudy. It may become so cloudy that your Eye M.D. cannot clearly see the details of the retina. At that point, you might experience difficulty identifying colors and seeing at a distance.
Other causes of cataract include:
- family history of cataracts;
- medical problems, like diabetes;
- injury to the eye;
- medications, especially steroids;
- radiation;
- long-term, unprotected exposure to sunlight;
- previous eye surgery.
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