Did you know that cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide? The incidence of cataracts in the United States is on the rise, affecting more than 25 million Americans. In fact, more than half of all Americans over the
Did you know that cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide? The incidence of cataracts in the United States is on the rise, affecting more than 25 million Americans. In fact, more than half of all Americans over the age of 65 have some degree of cataract development. Getting a cataract is common. For most people, cataracts are a natural result of aging. However, eye injuries, certain medications, prolonged exposure to UV light, smoking, and diseases such as diabetes and alcoholism have also been known to cause cataracts.
What is a cataract?
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens in the eye, the part responsible for focusing light and producing clear images. The development of a cataract happens when proteins in the lens of your eye clump together, forming opaque clusters. Over time, these proteins cause the lens to become cloudy, brown, or yellow, allowing less light to pass through to the retina (the back of the eye), so vision becomes blurry or dark and colors become muted.
Common symptoms of a cataract may include cloudy or blurry vision, difficulty driving or seeing at night, difficulty viewing a computer screen, glare, colors appearing dim and faded, double vision or multiple images in one eye (this symptom may clear as the cataract gets larger), or frequent prescription changes in your eyeglasses or contact lenses. Left untreated, cataracts will distort vision and can cause a complete loss of vision. Fortunately, treatment is now safer than ever. Unlike many eye diseases, vision loss due to cataract can be restored.
How is a cataract treated?
Cataracts are detected through a comprehensive eye examination. The symptoms of early cataract may be temporarily improved with new eyeglasses, brighter lighting, anti-glare lenses, or magnifying lenses. As a cataract progresses, surgery becomes the only effective treatment. Eye doctors generally use a vision test as the main criteria for determining when the time is right for a patient’s cataract surgery. Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed procedures in the United States. It is also one of the safest and most effective types of surgery.
More than 90 percent of people who have cataract surgery regain useful vision and report having much better vision afterward. During cataract surgery, your surgeon will replace the cloudy natural lens (or cataract) of your eye with an intraocular lens (or IOL). There have been great advances in IOL technology.
Taking care of your eyes is an important part of taking care of your overall health. Wearing sunglasses with ultraviolet protection, practicing a healthy diet, and not smoking are good habits to help reduce the risk of age-related cataract. All adults should get a baseline eye exam by age 40, when early signs of eye disease and vision changes may start to occur. Regular dilated eye exams will help protect your sight for the future not just from cataract, but other eye diseases as well.
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Janel Patterson is a Certified Optician at Crane Eye Care.
