Cataracts

Cataracts

• What is a cataract?
• How does a cataract form?
• What are the symptoms of cataracts?
• How are cataracts diagnosed?
• What are the treatment options?
• What is the procedure for implantation of an IOL?
• What happens after the IOL procedure?
• Why should I shield my eyes from the sun?...Prevention
• Cataracts At A Glance

What is a cataract?

Cataracts are clouding of the lens portion of the eye. The result is much like smearing grease over the lens of a camera and impairs normal vision.

Cataracts will affect most people if they live long enough. This disorder affects 60 percent of people older than 60 and occurs when the normally clear, aspirin-sized lens of the eye starts to become cloudy. impairing vision.

Experts estimate that over 1.2 million Americans are diagnosed annually with cataracts that require treatment. As there are growing numbers of elderly in the United States, the incidence of cataracts is increasing. These persons often want to continue driving cars, reading and traveling-activities for which clear sight is vital.

Until recently, anyone who developed cataracts and needed surgery faced a procedure that involved pain and often less than satisfactory results. Until the late 1970s, doctors removed the cloudy lens in a surgical procedure that required a hospital stay of five to seven days. Afterward, the patient had to wear thick "Coke bottle" glasses or contact lenses neither of which could completely restore vision to its previous level.

Today, there's little need for such complicated treatment. Advances in medicine have made cataracts much less worrisome. Now, the clouded lens is surgically removed and replaced with a plastic intraocular lens (IOL) in an hourlong operation that often requires no hospitalization.

"The intraocular lens has revolutionized the treatment of cataracts." says Carl Kupfer. M.D., director of the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Md. "Implantation of the lens is one of the most successful operations in medicine."