Jeelist

Normal lens in the eye is clear and it allows light pass to the back of the eye. The cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye and when it develops, it becomes very hard for a person to see.

The cataract usually develops in adults and half of the Americans between the ages 65 to 74 have cataract. The cataract may develop in both eyes and one eye will be worse than the other because each cataract develops at different times and rate.

Sometimes, the cataract may be small and the changes in their vision may not bother very much. But, most of the times, the people who have the cataract cannot see well enough

An eye test is needed to find and confirm the cataract. The eye doctor will put eye drops to enlarge the pupils and ask to read a letter chart to see how sharp the sight is. The doctor will use a bright light to see whether the lenses are clear and to check for any other problem in the back of the eyes.

Here are some symptoms of cataract:

• Cloudy, fuzzy, foggy, or filmy vision
• Changes in the way you see colors
• Problems driving at night because headlights seem too bright
• Problems with glare from lamps or the sun
• Frequent changes in your eyeglass prescription
• Double vision
• Better near vision for awhile only in farsighted people

Sometimes, a few more eye tests are also may be conducted to know the visibility with cataract or after the surgery and these tests will be done with few people only and not for all.

• Glare test
• Contrast sensitivity test
• Potential vision test
• Specular photographic microscopy

The doctor cannot decide the surgery for the person who is suffering with cataract. Based on the visibility and the information given by the person will help doctor to talk to the person and decide the surgery. The person suffering with cataract can check (x) the following statements that apply and show it to the doctor which helps the doctor to decide on the surgery.

• I need to drive, but there is too much glare from the sun or headlights.
• I do not see well enough to do my best at work.
• I do not see well enough to do the things I need to do at home.
• I do not see well enough to do things I like to do (for example, read, watch TV, sew, hike, play cards, go out with friends).
• I am afraid I will bump into something or fall.
• Because of my cataract, I am not as independent as I would like to be.
• My glasses do not help me see well enough.
• My eyesight bothers me a lot.

The success rate with modern cataract surgery is 95 percent with healthy eyes and most of the people recover well from surgery with improved vision.

In the case of cataract in both eyes, the doctor advises the patients to wait until the first eye heals before having the surgery on the second eye.

Most of the time, the people do not need to overnight in the hospital to have a cataract surgery. The people will be treated as outpatients and will be sent home after the surgery when they are fit to leave. A few months time is needed to heal after cataract surgery and regular doctor check ups are needed to see the progress and the patient need to take care until the eye recovers fully.

Three types of surgery to remove lenses that have a cataract:

• Extracapsular surgery - The eye surgeon removes the lens, leaving behind the back half of the capsule (the outer covering of the lens)
• Phacoemulsification (pronounced FAY-co-ee-mul-sih-fih-CAY-shun) - In this type of extracapsular surgery, the surgeon softens the lens with sound waves and removes it through a needle. The back half of the lens capsule is left behind.
• Intracapsular surgery - The surgeon removes the entire lens, including the capsule. This method is rarely used.

After the cataract surgery, the patient will get an artificial lens immediately. Intraocular lens, a plastic disc, is placed in the capsule inside the eye.

The surgery will remove all or the part of the lens and it is the reason, the cataract cannot return. But, the people who have the extracapsular surgery or phacoemulsification, the lens capsule becomes cloudy and it develops after a year or more after surgery. The doctor uses a laser beam to make a tiny hole in the capsule to let light pass. This surgery is called YAG capsulotomy which is painless and does not require a hospital stay even.