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 Every normally developed human eye contains within it a crystalline lens. This lens is a clear organ made up of clear proteins and is responsible for focusing images on the retina, much like the lens inside the camera that brings images to focus on the film. With time and with environmental factors, such as ultraviolet lights, smoking, poor nutrition, diabetes, radiation and/or chemotherapy, but most commonly as part of the aging process, the lens becomes cloudy. This occurs due to denaturation of the clear crystalline proteins. The process of clouding of the normal crystalline lens is irreversible and is called "cataract formation".
As the cataract forms, the light is scattered by an increasingly dense and cloudy lens and results in poor vision.
Who is at risk for developing Cataracts?
Patients between the ages of 65 and 75 are at risk for developing cataracts and up to 50% of these patients have visually significant cataracts that interfere with vision. Patients, who are on chronic steroid administration, have undergone radiation or chemotherapy and patients who have had trauma are all at risk for developing cataracts even at an earlier age.
Symptoms of a Cataract
Cataract symptoms:
- halos
- glare
- decrease of visual acuity
- loss of color perception
- loss of contrast sensitivity
- photo-sensitivity
Frequent symptoms may include difficulty seeing road signs, experiencing halos and glare from the oncoming traffic as well as difficulty reading and photosensitivity. In fact, it is thought that cataracts are responsible for the so-called "Blue Periods" in many artists' careers such as Picasso. A "Blue Period" is when an artist does not perceive normal saturation of blue and adds more and more blue colors to their paintings.
Many patients are asymptomatic and are surprised to find out that they have cataracts during their office visit.
How is a Cataract Diagnosed?
A Cataract is a clouding of the lens, which usually manifests itself with decreasing quality of vision. The only way to diagnose a cataract is through a visit to an ophthalmologist, who uses a specialized instrument called a slit lamp. A slit lamp is a microscope used to examine the inner and outer tissues of the eyes. Once the cataract is diagnosed, Dr.Benjamin will attempt to improve the vision by prescribing glasses and/or contact lenses; however certain decrease of visual acuity is not correctable with glasses and will require removal of the cataract.
 Because cataract formation takes decades to develop, the best way to prevent cataract formation is to try to avoid risk factors associated with cataractogenesis. These, of course, include a diet rich in antioxidants and green leafy vegetables, UV protection, avoidance of trauma and avoidance of glucocortico-steroids, such as Prednisolone.
Much like there is no way to un-boil an egg, there is no way to reverse cataract formation by drops, dietary supplements, exercises and/or specialized glasses. The only way to treat a cataract is through surgical intervention. Fortunately, cataract surgery is the most commonly performed procedure in the United States. Anywhere from 2 to 4 million procedures are performed each year. Cataract extraction is the safest, most predictable and most efficacious surgery performed on the human body today.
Cataract Enhancements
Once you and Dr Benjamin have made a decision to undergo cataract extraction, you will be faced with several choices. While Cataract surgery has advanced tremendously in the last several years, most of the advances have had to do with transformation of Cataract surgery from a pure medical procedure to a refractive surgery, thus Cataract surgery can now allow patients to completely eliminate glasses for distance, near and/or intermediate. Thus several options and/or Cataract enhancements are available to you. Most of these pertain to what type of lens is implanted in the eye and/or what other procedures are performed simultaneously to eliminate Astigmatism, Presbyopia, Farsightedness and Nearsightedness.
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