Causes of cataract development

Cataracts are most commonly caused by age. In fact, everyone who lives long enough will develop cataracts. Age-related cataracts are brought about by chemical changes within the lens of the eye. These changes result in the lens hardening and becoming cloudy.

Cataracts can also be caused by severe injuries to the eye, reactions to certain drugs, exposure to harmful chemicals or radiation, and some eye diseases and physical conditions such as diabetes. Smoking and exposure to high amounts of sunlight have been shown to increase the onset of cataract formation. Babies can also be born with congenital cataracts.

Symptoms

Cataracts vary in the way they develop, but generally, people experience one or more of these common symptoms:

• Haziness, blurring, distortion and yellowed vision.
• Need for more light to read or see clearly.
• Night glare, halos or colored rings around lights, or glare in sunlight
• Gradual loss of color vision.
• Dark spots or shadows that move with the eye.
• Becoming more nearsighted and not needing reading glasses.Double vision.
• Being able to see better without glasses.
• In advanced stages, a white or yellow pupil.

Treatment

Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent or reverse the development of cataracts without surgery. Although there is evidence that anti-oxidants such as vitamin A, C and E may delay their development, there is no known way to prevent cataracts or to make the cloudy lens clear again.

If there are no other serious problems with the eye, an experienced cataract surgeon can restore vision in 99% of patients. In fact, cataract surgery is one of the most successful surgeries being performed. Cataract surgery involves two main parts: First, the cloudy lens must be removed and secondly, the focusing power must be replaced.

Removing the cloudy lens
The surgeon first makes tiny incisions in the cornea. A delicate clear capsule is opened, and the hard cataract is broken up. These steps can be done by femtosecond laser or manually by your surgeon. The lens fragments are then removed from the eye using a process called phacoemulsification, in which a ultrasound probe vibrates at 40,000 times per second and suctions the material out of the eye. The rest of the capsule is left intact to provide a sac for holding the new artificial lens.

Replacing the focusing power
In removing the lens of the eye, its focusing ability is also removed during cataract surgery. To replace it, a tiny artificial lens implant can be inserted into the original lens capsule. This lens implant is held securely in place by gentle, flexible loops. Artificial lens implants are available in all ranges of power so patients can often achieve better vision than they have ever experienced. Many people find that they can see without their glasses. Although clear vision can be restored very quickly, glasses still may be needed for some activities such as driving or reading.

We live in an age where we can tailor the intraocular lens (IOL) selection to your lifestyle. Your surgeon will discuss various options for lens replacements. At Achieve Eye and Laser, we offer the latest in aspheric monofocal lenses, toric astigmatism lenses, multifocal lenses, and accommodating lenses. It is important to note that different lenses are appropriate for different kinds of eyes, and your doctor will discuss options that are a good fit for your eye. You will hear about your choices and will make your lens selection at your pre-operative appointment.

At the most basic level, your choices will hinge on whether or not you have astigmatism (when your cornea is round, but rather, “football” shaped). If you have astigmatism, you can elect to correct this astigmatism with a toric intraocular lens, or go with the aspheric monofocal IOL, which does not correct astigmatism. Your doctor will explain the benefits and drawbacks of each.

If you do not have astigmatism, your options are the aspherical monofocal lens, or a multifocal or accommodating IOL.