A cataract is the leading cause of preventable vision loss in most parts of the world, cataracts are very common and you probably know somebody who has cataracts and you may also be somebody who is reading this because you’ve been recently diagnosed with early-stage cataract and you want to find out more about it. Well, in this blog post, I’m going to keep it super simple and I’ll summarize the answer to the question, what is a cataract and how is it treated?
So let’s get started, firstly cataract is the leading cause of preventable vision loss because it does cause vision loss, but not blindness directly and the reason that it’s not called the leading cause of blindness is precise because it can be treated even at the point where it has caused near-complete vision loss. The distinction is that vision loss may be restored, whereas blindness usually implies permanent damage to sight.
So what is a cataract?
The eye is a two-lens system with the cornea lens being at the front of the eye and further into the eye, we have the other lens, which is called the crystalline lens. Both lenses are complex structures that need to be transparent, however, the crystalline lens is particularly vulnerable to becoming less transparent over a person’s life. There is a range of reasons that can cause the acceleration and the loss of transparency of the crystalline lens but age is by far the most common cause of loss of transparency and when the crystalline lens loses its transparency, this can take different forms. It can range from the appearance of general cloudiness of the lens overall to fit clumps that form at different points within the lens and you can think of the lens as being a bit like egg white protein, which, when it denatures goes from being transparent to being solid white, that doesn’t transmit light through it and this is effectively what happens in the eyes lens.
Now, the consequence of having a cataract is that effectively it blocks the view of the individual and stops rays of light from reaching the retina. So you start to lose quality and quantity of sight and this brings us to the treatment.
The treatment of cataracts.
The treatment of cataract is through operation to remove the content of the cloudy crystalline lens and a cataract operation like any other operation that you can have does have its risk, but in the hands of a competent surgeon, a cataract operation is one of the most successful and life-transforming procedures that anyone can have.
So the procedure involves a small incision at the edge of the eye to access the crystalline lens and then the surgeon will cut a small hole into the lens and they’ll then break up the cataract and suction out the center of the lens, then leave the outer shell of the crystalline lens in place to insert an artificial plastic lens into a shell sac of the lens. The reason that they have to implant this artificial lens into the shell is that the crystalline lens has high optical power. So when you remove this optical power, you’ll need to replace it with something else. Otherwise, the individual is left and needing to wear very high-powered contact lenses or high-powered glasses all the time to compensate.
After you’ve had your cataract operation, you’ll see the benefits pretty much straight away, but you will have to wear an eye patch or some kind of eye covering for a short period. Here are some links to videos and information on cataract procedures so you can check them out.
My other related videos to check out: The crystalline lens and reading https://youtu.be/YzTSYcIk4k,
More cataract resources: NHS cataract guidance https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cataracts/
NHS video on what to expect as you prepare for cataract surgery – Part 1 https://youtu.be/pPhphlrGzbM
Part 2 https://youtu.be/ZS0OztENvRk)
Now, in this day and age, treating a cataract isn’t perhaps the big problem that it once used to be, if you had to choose anything to go wrong with your eyes out of all the serious things that potentially could happen, then I choose a cataract every single time and that’s because of the treatment options and how effective the treatment is, and how quick it is as well. Now, of course, if the conventional treatment didn’t have to involve surgery, that would be the preferred option.
So that is the brief explanation of the cataract and other surgical treatment for it. So let me know in the comments section, when it comes to a cataract, what is your biggest concern regarding a cataract and its treatment?
Until the next time, take care.
