Cataract
What Is a Cataract?
A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging. Cataracts are very common in older people. By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had cataract surgery.
A cataract can occur in either or both eyes. It cannot spread from one eye to the other.
The lens is a clear part of the eye that helps to focus light, or an image, on the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
In a normal eye, light passes through the transparent lens to the retina. Once it reaches the retina, light is changed into nerve signals that are sent to the brain.
The lens must be clear for the retina to receive a sharp image. If the lens is cloudy from a cataract, the image you see will be blurred.
Development and Risk Factors
Age-related cataracts develop in two ways.
- Clumps of protein reduce the sharpness of the image reaching the retina.
- The clear lens slowly changes to a yellowish/brownish color, adding a brownish tint to vision.
The lens consists mostly of water and protein. When the protein clumps up, it clouds the lens and reduces the light that reaches the retina. The clouding may become severe enough to cause blurred vision. Most age-related cataracts develop from protein clumpings.
When a cataract is small, the cloudiness affects only a small part of the lens. You may not notice any changes in your vision. Cataracts tend to grow slowly, so vision gets worse gradually.
Over time, the cloudy area in the lens may get larger, and the cataract may increase in size. Seeing may become more difficult. Your vision may get duller or blurrier.
Cataracts cause the lens to change to a yellowish/brownish color. As the clear lens slowly colors with age, your vision gradually may acquire a brownish shade. At first, the amount of tinting may be small and may not cause a vision problem.
Over time, increased tinting may make it more difficult to read and perform other routine activities. This gradual change in the amount of tinting does not affect the sharpness of the image transmitted to the retina.
If you have advanced lens discoloration, you may not be able to identify blues and purples. You may be wearing what you believe to be a pair of black socks, only to find out from friends that you are wearing purple socks.
The risk of cataract increases as you get older. Other risk factors for cataract include
- certain diseases like diabetes
- personal behavior like smoking or alcohol use
- environmental factors such as prolonged exposure to ultraviolet sunlight.
Symptoms and Detection
The most common symptoms of a cataract are
- cloudy or blurry vision and poor night vision
- glare -- headlights, lamps, or sunlight may appear too bright or a halo may appear around lights
- double vision or multiple images in one eye
- frequent prescription changes in your eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Cataract is detected through a comprehensive eye exam that includes a visual acuity test, dilated eye exam, and tonometry.
The visual acuity test is an eye chart test that measures how well you see at various distances.
In the dilated eye exam, drops are placed in your eyes to widen, or dilate, the pupils. Your eye care professional uses a special magnifying lens to examine your retina and optic nerve for signs of damage and other eye problems.
In tonometry, an instrument measures the pressure inside the eye. Numbing drops may be applied to your eye for this test.
The symptoms of early cataract may be improved with new eyeglasses, brighter lighting, anti-glare sunglasses, or magnifying lenses. If these measures do not help, surgery is the only effective treatment. Surgery involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with an artificial lens.
Treatment and Prevention
A cataract needs to be removed only when vision loss interferes with your everyday activities, such as driving, reading, or watching TV. You and your eye care professional can make this decision together.
Once you understand the benefits and risks of surgery, you can make an informed decision about whether cataract surgery is right for you. In most cases, delaying cataract surgery will not cause long-term damage to your eye or make the surgery more difficult. You do not have to rush into surgery.
Sometimes a cataract should be removed even if it does not cause problems with your vision. For example, a cataract should be removed if it prevents examination or treatment of another eye problem, such as age-related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy.
If you choose surgery, your eye care professional may refer you to a specialist to remove the cataract. If you have cataracts in both eyes that require surgery, the surgery will be performed on each eye at separate times, usually four to eight weeks apart.
Cataract removal is one of the most common operations performed in the United States. It also is one of the safest and most effective types of surgery. In about 90 percent of cases, people who have cataract surgery have better vision afterward.
There are two types of cataract surgery, phacoemulsification and extracapsular surgery. Your doctor can explain the differences and help determine which is better for you.
With phacoemulsification, or phaco, a small incision is made on the side of the cornea, the clear, dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. Your doctor inserts a tiny probe into the eye. This device emits ultrasound waves that soften and break up the lens so that it can be removed by suction. Most cataract surgery today is done by phacoemulsification, also called small incision cataract surgery.
With extracapsular surgery, your doctor makes a longer incision on the side of the cornea and removes the cloudy core of the lens in one piece. The rest of the lens is removed by suction.
After the natural lens has been removed, it usually is replaced by an artificial lens, called an intraocular lens, or IOL. An IOL is a clear, plastic lens that requires no care and becomes a permanent part of your eye.
Light is focused clearly by the IOL onto the retina, improving your vision. You will not feel or see the new lens.
The operation usually lasts less than one hour and is almost painless. Many people choose to stay awake during surgery.
You can return quickly to many everyday activities, but your vision may be blurry. The healing eye needs time to adjust so that it can focus properly with the other eye, especially if the other eye has a cataract. Ask your doctor when you can resume driving.
Wearing sunglasses and a hat with a brim to block ultraviolet sunlight may help to delay cataract. If you smoke, stop. Researchers also believe good nutrition can help reduce the risk of age-related cataract. They recommend eating green leafy vegetables, fruit, and other foods with antioxidants.
If you are age 60 or older, you should have a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once every two years.
In addition to cataract, your eye care professional can check for signs of age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and other vision disorders. For many eye diseases, early treatment may save your sight.
