Eye Diseases – Cataracts

Vision is something many of us take for granted, especially when we are young. However, when our eyes are subject to disease, it can become a serious and frightening problem.

In many cases, the more educated you are about eye health, the more efficiently you will be in finding the correct treatment. One common eye disease that requires specific medical treatment is the problem of cataracts.

What Are Cataracts?

A cataract occurs when the eye’s lens becomes clouded. Since the lens of the eye focuses light onto the retina to allow us to see clearly, clouding naturally results in a serious obscuring of one’s vision. The cataract occurs with age, as the protein in our eye builds up and clouds the lens.

There are three different kinds of cataracts. Subcapsular cataracts happen at the back of your eye’s lens, usually the result of factors other than aging, such as diabetes or steroid use. Cortical cataracts form in the cortex of the lens and more commonly develop through diabetics than natural aging. The most common type of cataract is the nuclear cataract, which forms in the nucleus of the lens and can be seen as it forms. Many of us can expect to develop this type of cataract with age.

How Do I Know If I Am Developing a Cataract?

Since you can see a nuclear cataract developing, you may notice a slight blurring of vision. You may experience more glare than in the past, especially at night. Some developers of nuclear cataracts actually experience a short-term improvement of symptoms, but this quickly deteriorates into blurring as the cataract continues to develop.

What is the Treatment for Cataracts?

If you have a cataract, you will eventually need cataract surgery to remove the lens. Cataract surgery is a highly successful procedure, which replaces your occluded lens with an intraocular lens. In most cases, cataract sufferers who receive intraocular lenses experience a very high return of visual acuity, usually between 20/20 and 20/40 vision. Rejection of the intraocular lens is uncommon and there are medical techniques to manage any rejection problems that may occur.