Cataract Surgery Most Performed Operation in the Country

In an aging population, over 22 million people aged 40+ suffer impaired vision from cataracts; Top symptoms and treatments for cataracts

 Cloudy, blurry vision.Fading colors. Glare from lights of all types. Bad night vision.Double vision.Frequent eyeglass and contact lens prescription changes. These are the most frequent signs of cataracts. Before the symptoms progress in severity, a patient must visit an ophthalmologist to rule out other eye problems or to plan treatment before the cataracts get worse.

 What’s Age Got to Do with It?

 Researchers think that the protein in the lens of the eye changes from usage over the years. When this protein clumps together, it clouds a small part of the lens. This cloud is the cataract.

 •   As more time passes (as the patient ages), the cataract may grow and make it more difficult to see.
•   As even more time passes, the clear lens changes to a yellow-brown color. This gives a brown, almost sunglass-like, tint to the images viewed through the eye’s lens, which causes a problem in distinguishing blue and purple colors.

 What Else Has to Do with It?

 Researchers think there are other causes for cataracts. These include:

 •   Whether people smoke cigarettes
•   Whether people have diabetes

 How Eye Doctors Make the Clouds Part and the Sun Shine Through

 In the beginning, nearsighted or farsighted glasses with strong prescriptions may correct the above cataract symptoms. However, once cataracts have advanced, a surgical parting of the clouds is the only way to allow the sun to shine through again.

 All-laser cataract surgery removes the clouded natural lens. An IOL (Intraocular Lens) replaces the compromised lens with the cataract. In many cases, the patient’s nearsightedness, which they experienced before the cataract, is corrected. Surgical intervention of cataracts improves a patient’s vision 98% of the time.

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