Cataracts
A cataract occurs when the normally clear lens in your eye becomes cloudy, often impairing vision. Clouded vision may make it more difficult for you to read, drive a car or see as clearly as you once did.
For most people cataracts, which develop slowly over time, are a natural result of aging. About half of Americans between the ages of 65 and 75 have cataracts to some degree.
The key to living with cataracts is knowing when it’s time not to live with them anymore. Usually, this happens when your normal lifestyle — reading the morning paper, driving to the grocery store or seeing the expression on the face of a child or grandchild — is jeopardized by impaired vision. Fortunately, advanced surgical methods make cataract surgery one of the most successful surgical procedures performed today.
Signs and Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of cataracts may include:
- Blurry or dim vision
- Poor night vision
- Halos around lights
- Sensitivity to light and glare
- Need for brighter light for reading and other activities
- Frequent changes in eyeglass prescription
Treatment
Surgery is the most effective treatment for cataracts. More than 95 percent of the people who have cataract removal end up with better vision.
Using microsurgery and local anesthesia, the cataract is removed, leaving much of your eye’s natural lens capsule in place. The capsule helps support the clear artificial lens that the surgeon inserts to replace the cloudy lens. The procedure is usually done on an outpatient basis and takes less than 1 hour. If both eyes are affected, surgery is usually performed on one eye at a time, allowing the first eye to heal before surgery is done on the second one.