August is Cataract Awareness Month and since there is confusion as to what exactly cataracts are and how they are treated, I would like to give a quick overview. And see below for the winner of last month’s crossword puzzle and for this month’s new puzzle. The solution for last month’s puzzle is posted on the www.gothamlasik.com website.
Essentially, a cataract is a clouding of the natural lens in the eye. Though often described as a film or coating over the eye or the vision, the abnormality lies inside the eye. (See the pictures below.)
There are many different types of cataracts, but the most common, and the type most people are familiar with is the senile, or age-related cataract – often described as nuclear sclerosis, a generalized clouding of the lens. Other types that may occur alone or in conjunction with the senile cataract are posterior subcapsular, cortical, anterior polar, etc. They may be classified as immature, mature, hypermature, congenital, traumatic etc. But essentially, if a person lives long enough, they will develop cataracts.
A cataract can interfere with the vision in a variety of ways. Most often, the vision becomes slightly fuzzy or blurred with a loss of visual acuity (eye chart vision) – but since this usually happens slowly over many years the individual may not notice until late in the development of the cataract. Sometimes the patient experiences a lot of glare or a halo around lights, often becoming so bad as to make driving difficult, especially at night. Contrast sensitivity is also lost, so that contours, shadows and color vision are less vivid. A ‘browning or yellowing’ of the vision is a sign of cataracts.
Causes of cataract formation are many. Long-term exposure to ultraviolet light and radiation is a significant cause. Diseases such as diabetes or hypertension play a role as does any trauma to the lens or long term use of corticosteroids. Genetic factors also play a role.
As discussed previously, there is no tried and true way of preventing cataracts. The wearing of UV blocking sunglasses may slow the development of them. Regular intake of antioxidants through one’s diet may help prevent or delay cataracts (but supplements have shown no real benefit in this respect).
Treatment of cataracts ultimately means surgery. Compared to years ago when surgery would take an hour and a person was in the hospital for up to a week, today’s cataract surgery is revolutionary. It is performed on an outpatient basis with local anaesthesia and usually takes less than half an hour. Before, a person was restricted to the use of very thick glasses after cataract surgery for normal vision, but today with the latest intraocular lens implants, a person’s vision is usually very good starting soon after the procedure and without the need for glasses. New multifocal or accommodating intraocular lens implants may even afford the post-cataract surgery patient good vision both at near and at far.
Lasik Crossword Puzzle Update:
Congratulations goes to past patient Jackie Gauci from Michigan who was the first to successfully answer the crossword puzzle in last month’s newsletter. She opted for a $250 gift certificate.