Diagnosis: Cataracts
- What are Cataracts?
- What causes Cataracts?
- What are the signs of Cataracts?
- What to expect from Cataract surgery
- Intraocular Lenses (IOLs)
- Important Cataract Links
What are Cataracts?
Your eye works a lot like a camera. Light rays focus through your lens on the retina, a layer of light sensitive cells at the back of the eye. Similar to film, the retina allows the image to be "seen" by the brain. But over time the lens can become cloudy and prevent light rays from passing clearly through the lens. This cloudy lens is called a cataract. This loss of transparency may be so mild that vision is hardly affected or so severe that no shapes or movements are seen, only light and dark.
Most people choose to have cataract surgery when their decreased vision begins to interfere with their lifestyle. Every year 2 million Americans have cataract surgery with a success rate higher than 95%.
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The most common cause of cataract is aging. Other causes include trauma, medications such as steroids, systemic diseases such as diabetes and prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light.
BACK TO TOPWhat are the signs of Cataracts?
The typical symptom of cataract formation is a slow, progressive and painless decrease in vision. Other changes may include:
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What to expect from Cataract surgery
Great advances have been made in cataract surgery. Millions of people undergo this vision-improving procedure every year, typically experiencing excellent results.
It's a simple outpatient procedure. A tiny incision is made in the eye. Through this incision, the surgeon inserts an instrument which breaks up and gently removes your cloudy lens. Once the clouded lens has been removed, the next step is to replace it. That is, to implant an artificial lens that will do the work of your own lens. This artificial lens is referred to as an intraocular lens or IOL.
BACK TO TOPIntraocular Lenses (IOLs)
An intraocular lens (IOL) is a tiny, lightweight, clear lens placed in the eye during cataract surgery. An IOL replaces the focusing power of the eye's natural lens.
Until recently, patients undergoing cataract surgery had one option: the monofocal, or single focus, IOL. Monofocal IOLs generally provide excellent distance vision while patients often need spectacle correction for near and intermediate vision.
Today, patients have several options: the Multifocal IOL, Toric IOL and Limbal Relaxing Incisions (LRI).
Multifocal IOLs provide patients with a full range of vision and greater independence from glasses or contact lenses. Studies show that more than 80% of patients who receive a Multifocal IOL never or only occasionally need to wear any type of prescription glasses.
Toric IOLs make it possible to reduce or eliminate corneal astigmatism and significantly improve distance vision without the aid of corrective lenses following cataract surgery.
Accommodating IOLs are single focus implants that attempt to change focus when a patient makes an effort to view objects at varying distances. The revolutionary design element of this lens are "hinges" which allow the lens to move, or accommodate, to seamlessly focus on objects at a full spectrum of distances.
Limbal Relaxing Incisions (LRI) is a procedure that can be performed at the time of cataract surgery that can correct small amounts of astigmatism, thereby improving uncorrected post-operative vision.
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