CATARACTS
A cataract is clouding or opacity of the lens inside the eye. It causes gradual blurring of vision and often glare.
Cataracts are very common – the main cause of impaired vision worldwide. In England and Wales, it’s estimated that around 2.5 million people aged 65 or older have some degree of visual impairment caused by cataracts
What are cataracts?
Cataracts are when the lens of your eye, a small transparent disc, develops cloudy patches.
When we’re young, our lenses are usually like clear glass, allowing us to see through them.
As we get older they start to become frosted, like bathroom glass, and begin to limit our vision.
Cataracts most commonly affect adults as a result of ageing.
Everything you need to know about Cataracts
Cataracts are responsible for 51% of world blindness, which represents about 20 million people per year (WHO, 2010).
A cataract is the cloudiness of the natural crystalline lens inside your eye. It can feel as though you are looking through fog or a dirty camera lens.
Initially, your eye prescription starts to change. Later, your vision becomes misty and cloudy. At this stage, you cannot correct your vision with glasses.
When a cataract starts to impair your vision significantly, the only treatment is the surgical removal of the lens affected and the insertion of a new artificial lens.
• Difficulty seeing in dim lighting or darker conditions like night time driving
• Colours appear dim and faded
• Vision becomes progressively worse, and you may find your glasses are no longer useful
• Bright lights may be dazzling, and halos or rings may appear around them
• You may feel as if you are looking through a misty window with a yellow or brown tinge
The back of the eye is called the retina; this works like the film in a camera. Both the cornea (the transparent front window of the eye) and natural crystalline lens act like the lens in the camera. When light is focused and hits the retina, an image is taken and sent to the brain.
When you are young, the lens in the eye is elastic and moves very well. This movement is called accommodation and is comparable to the autofocus function in a camera. Accommodation enables you to read the small print as well as see distant objects comfortably. As you age, the lens loses its elasticity and is no longer able to see small print. You will typically notice this at around the age of 40 and above.
Most people, when faced with this challenge, begin to use reading glasses. The power of reading glasses must increase with increasing age. However, there is a limit. Eventually, when the lens loses its elasticity, it begins to opacify (cloud over) and lose its clarity. This typically occurs when you are around 50. At this stage, you might start to lose some contrast sensitivity and the ability to see vivid colours. A cataract can develop in both eyes and can vary in their developing between the two eyes.
Types of Cataracts include:
Age-related cataract
An age-related cataract is the most common cause of blindness. Cataract formations occur when the natural crystalline lens inside your eye becomes cloudy or misty. It may feel as though you are looking through a dirty camera. Developing a cataract is a part of the natural ageing process along with presbyopia (the loss of close-up vision). An age-related cataract usually occurs in those over the age of around 60, it can happen in one eye or both your eyes and tends to get progressively worse with time.
A traumatic cataract
Traumatic cataract can appear when there is damage that affects the natural crystalline lens. Damage is usually a result of an eye injury. This kind of cataract can impede the vision in the same way. We can remove it with surgery.
Congenital cataract
Congenital cataract has the potential to lead to blindness and irreversible damage to the visual system if not addressed within 6-8 weeks of birth. Cataracts in new-borns are rare and affect 3-4 per 100,000 children in the UK. It accounts for 5% to 20% of blindness in children worldwide.
A developmental cataract
A developmental cataract starts at a young age and can progress to become visually significant enough to require surgery. Any cataract or lens opacity that is present in a child less than 12 years of age could lead to permanent loss of visual potential in the affected eyes unless treated. Sometimes, we use occlusion therapy by patching the unaffected eye to sufficiently stimulate the eye affected by cataract. Surgery ultimately becomes necessary.
A secondary cataract
A secondary cataract develops at any age and is usually the consequence of a disease, irradiation or medications. Glaucoma and diabetes are known conditions that contribute to cataract development. Steroids are one of the medicines that are known to cause a cataract, mainly posterior subcapsular cataracts (a type of cataract where the opacity lies along the back surface of the lens). Diabetes control can slow down the progression of cataract, but we cannot reverse cataract development. At this stage, surgery becomes the only option.
How to prepare for cataract surgery
Before cataract surgery, it is essential to have a thorough consultation.
At the consultation, we will:
• Perform a comprehensive eye exam to check your overall eye health
• Identify any risk factors or reasons why you should not undergo surgery
• Discuss aspects of your occupation, hobbies and lifestyle to ensure your expectations of the treatment are attainable
• Perform several tests and scans to accurately determine the amount of short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism you have before surgery.
• We will also take additional measurements so that we can select the best implant for you.
The first step in cataract surgery is to ‘wash out’ the cataract using a technique called phacoemulsification. This method involves using a tiny device that vibrates at ultrasound speed to break the lens into small particles. I then remove the particles through a tiny slit no larger than 2.40 mm using a little vacuum.
I use the best available microscopes and the most advanced phacoemulsification devices to ensure the best and safest outcomes.
After I remove the cataract, I implant an intraocular lens inside the eye’s capsule bag (that is the capsule or shell left after I removed the cataract). I determine the type and power of the lens implant in advance.
During the pre-operative consultation, I will discuss with you your intraocular lens implant options. Depending on your needs and goals, I might use a monofocal lens implant, a multifocal lens implant or another type of implant.
Can you prevent the incidence of cataracts?
• Certain nutrients and nutritional supplements may reduce the risk of cataract development. For example, vitamin E is found in almonds, spinach and other green leafy vegetables. Sunflower seeds, carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin from food and nutritional supplements can also help.
• Antioxidants like vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids may also lower the risk or delay cataract formation.
• UV light is known to accelerate the development of cataract and therefore, wearing protective sunglasses can be useful.
Book your treatment today
Use the slider to see the effect of a Cataract.
Drag the slider to the left and right to see the way a clear normal lens focusses the light. Whilst a cloudy lens scatters light.
A cataract causes blurred, misty or cloudy vision. Dazzling lights and faded colours.
What are the symptoms of cataracts?
• Blurred, misty or cloudy vision
• Bright lights may be dazzling or uncomfortable to look at
• Colours may look faded or less clear with a yellow or brown tinge
• You may find it more difficult to see in dim or very bright light
• You may have double vision
• You may see haloes (circles of light) around bright lights, such as car headlights or streetlights
• Cataracts usually develop slowly over many years, so you may not notice symptoms at first. They often develop in both eyes, although each eye may be affected differently.
• Cataracts are not painful and don’t make your eyes red or irritated. You’ll usually have blurred, cloudy or misty vision, or you may have small spots or patches where your vision is less clear.
Do you have any questions?
Contact us anytime.
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There are many types and sizes of contact lenses and its important to make sure you are using the correct lenses for your eyes.
If your eyes are stinging, burning, itching or painfull remove the lenses immediately and seek advice.
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Dry AMD – there’s no treatment, but vision aids can help reduce the effect on your life.
Wet AMD – you may need regular eye injections and, very occasionally, a light treatment called “photodynamic therapy” to stop your vision getting worse.
At the Eye Health Clinic we srtive to bring to our customers the very latest techniques and technologies in eye care.
One such example is a brand new concept of using a persons own immune system to treat many eye disorders especially dry eye syndrome.
This is a new field of treatment and we are working with technology partners to bring this to the UK
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