Explaining Cataracts
A little more than half of American citizens at the age of 80+ will have a form of cataracts or will have had catact eye surgery (medicinenet.com). As Americans grow older and reach age 95, nearly 100% of folks will develop cataracts.
These numbers are frightening. It seems inescapable—if we live long enough, at some point in our lives we will all fall prey to this affliction. Why are we destined to suffer from this eye condition? What, if anything, can we do about it?
It may help to start with a discussion about what cataracts are. When light enters the eye, it travels through ocular fluid until it lands on the retina at the back of the eye. In a perfect world, the image is sharp and lands directly on the retina, which sends the image to the brain which then interprets it as sight. People who wear glasses or contact lenses have a problem with the round shape of their eye, causing the image to fall in front or behind the retina, off focus.
With cataracts, the image doesn’t have a clear path to travel through. The lens becomes opaque, cloudy, not allowing light to easily penetrate. Things become blurry. The degree of blurriness depends on how cloudy the lens is.
Water and protein make up most of the lens. As we grow older, some of the proteins may begin to clump together. These clumps form “clouds” that block light sources from coming into the eye. Over time this age-related cataract becomes denser and thus harder to see through. It’s not a growth or a tumor. All it is is a natural corruption that’s destined to occur.
Ways of developing cataracts that don’t involve aging are if you suffer from diabetes, have an inflammatory disease of the eye, or have a genetic illness that is associated with the development of secondary cataracts (there are really too many to name here).
Those just beginning to get cataracts will find that changing the prescription on their glasses, wearing sunglasses to reduce glare, and reading with better lighting can take care of most of their problems. To decipher small print a magnifying glass is helpful.
Once performing simple tasks like driving or reading becomes too much of a bother, surgery is recommended. A laser is used to remove the lens in modern cataract surgery. Then, an artificial lens is attached to the eye. Measurements of this artificial lens are taken a week or more before the surgery so it can be ready when the time comes.
In the United States cataract surgery is very common. Every year over two million surgeries are performed. Deemed safe and effective, it has improved vision in the majority of patients receiving it.
Tags: cataract eye surgery