CataractsEyes are equipped with a natural lens which helps focus the image for distant or near vision. With time, this lens starts losing its flexibility reducing the capacity to focus clearly on images up close. Additionally, the lens may begin to cloud and become opacified. This opacification is called a cataract and is the most important cause for reversible loss of vision.
The commonest reason for cataracts to develop is ageing of the lens. This process starts during the late teenage years and may be faster or slower for different people. Other less common causes of cataract formation are injury, eye inflammation conditions, use of steroid medications, retina surgery and diabetes. Much more rarely some people are born with them. Symptoms of significant cataract formation include blurring of the vision, disabling glare from oncoming lights, increase in shortsightedness and double vision from the involved eye. |
Treatment |
The treatment for cataracts is with surgery. Modern cataract surgery can be carried out with local anaesthesia and done through a minimally-invasive incision of under 2.5mm. A special instrument breaks down the cataract and makes it liquid so it can be aspirated out of the eye. A folded replacement lens implant is then placed inside the eye to restore the function of the lens. This lens then unfurls and is centered in the site where the native lens used to be. The strenght of previously worn glasses can also be reduced and often eliminated. Special designed lens implants (sometimes called premium lenses) are much more accurate in reducing the dependence on glasses.
Complex cataracts are those in which the risk of serious complications including the rupture of the support structure for the lens is higher than average. If the lens support splits, it may be that fractions of the cataract fall to the back of the eye, and a vitrectomy operation becomes necessary to retrieve them. In these situations it is often necessary to use a special type of replacement lens. |