Advances in Cataract Surgery

If you are over 50 and experiencing vision problems, the cause may be a cataract. The most common cause of cataracts is aging as more than half of all Americans develop cataracts by age 80.

"Cataracts occur when the lens that focuses light in the eye ages and eventually becomes cloudy," explains Alan Carlson, M.D., chief of the Corneal and Refractive Surgery Service at Duke University Eye Center. "A cataract is not a film over the eye, but actually develops inside the eye, gradually clouding the lens behind the pupil."

While aging is the most common cause for cataracts, Carlson says there are other possible causes.

"These include traumatic injuries to the eye, conditions that produce inflammation in the eye, certain medications such as corticosteroid pills and eye drops, and also some systemic illnesses such as diabetes. In rare cases, patients may even be born with cataracts," he says.

As for cataract symptoms, Carlson says there are often telltale warning signs. "Many patients notice a decreasing ability to drive at night," he says, "They may also notice an increased problem with glare, bright sunlight and oncoming headlights. These are the things that people often notice first when they develop a cataract."

Carlson urges anyone with early symptoms to schedule an eye exam. A routine eye examination, performed by a qualified specialist, consists of eight parts, explains Carlson. In addition to screening for cataracts, the test screens for glaucoma, macular degeneration and other diseases that affect the eye.

"We have very specialized equipment that allows us to examine the front as well as the back of the eye and identify whether a cataract is present," he says. "Our equipment allows us to determine what type of cataract is present, how severe it is and also to some degree to anticipate its rate of future growth."

If an eye exam indicates a cataract and the problem can't be corrected with eyeglasses, a specialist can perform an elective surgical procedure to remove the cataract and replace it with a tiny intraocular lens implant, adjusted to the patient's vision needs.

Carlson says new advances and techniques have made cataract surgery one of the most successful and life-improving surgical procedures in the United States.

"The procedure itself takes only a few minutes," he says. "Patients are not put to sleep. The surgical incision is less than three millimeters in length and does not usually require any stitches. Patients are discharged after the procedure and usually return to work and normal activities within a couple of days.

"Patients are usually very pleasantly surprised, not only with the recovery of vision but with the actual surgical procedure itself, how painless it is, how rapidly their vision recovers and how quickly they are able to return to activities they couldn't do before the surgery."

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The source of this article is http://www.dukehealth.org