Eye Care

Cataracts: Symptoms and Treatments

Generally everyone develops some cataractous changes to their lens with increasing age; this cannot be prevented. Some precautions, however, such as wearing glasses that filter UV rays from the sunlight are helpful. We are also finding new evidence that diet can play a role in preventing cataracts. Some people believe that anti-oxidants can be helpful, but no strong evidence exists.

Cataracts can be congenital; in other words, an infant can be born with them or develop them in early childhood. Current surgical techniques have made remarkable improvement in the lives of these children.
 

Cataract Treatment

In the early stages cataracts require no treatment at all. At these levels they are usually only detected by an eye doctor during a comprehensive eye and visual system exam. In many cases, there is a shift in the refractive index of the lens, making you more nearsighted. A change of eyeglasses is often helpful. This occurrence is often referred to as “second sight,” as a person who needed glasses for reading (as most people do after the early 40s) may find that they no longer need reading glasses.

Along with this shift in eyesight, there is likely some reduction of the distance vision. There are several techniques that can be used to assess how the vision may be affected. The most common way we record vision is with the Snellen scale. This is what you normally hear referred to as 20/20, 20/40, etc.

A person whose vision is best corrected to 20/40 means that we cannot improve the vision better than 20/40, even with the help of contact lenses or glasses. If your vision is 20/40, another person with normal vision would be able to see at 40 feet what you can first see at 20 feet. Likewise, 20/200 would mean the normal individual could see something at 200 feet that you could see at only 20 feet.
 

Cataract Tests

<< Previous Page 2 of 3 Next Page >>