How does cataract develop

Other tests your doctor might perform include checking your sensitivity to glare and your perception of colors. They may suggest stronger eyeglasses, magnifying lenses, or sunglasses with an anti-glare coating. Surgery is recommended when cataracts prevent you from going about your daily activities, such as reading or driving. One surgical method, known as phacoemulsification, involves the use of ultrasound waves to break the lens apart and remove the pieces. Extracapsular surgery involves removing the cloudy part of the lens through a long incision in the cornea.

After surgery, an artificial intraocular lens is placed where the natural lens was. Surgery to remove a cataract is generally very safe and has a high success rate. Most people can go home the same day as their surgery.

Cataracts can interfere with daily activities and lead to blindness when left untreated. The surgical removal of cataracts is a very common procedure and is highly effective roughly 90 percent of the time, according to the National Eye Institute. Cataracts can create cloudy or double vision and sensitivity to light. Read more on how they form and what you can do to treat them.

Having diabetes does increase your risk for eye problems, including cataracts. Learn about the numerous types of cataract surgery, what sets them apart, benefits, side effects, costs, preparation, and recovery. Pseudophakia is a term that describes having an artificial lens implanted in your eye. Here's what you need to know about this procedure. Recovery from cataract surgery generally lasts a short period of time, and you can return to many normal daily activities.

Cataract surgery is safe and effective, but there are some complications that can occur. Make an appointment for an eye exam if you notice any changes in your vision. If you develop sudden vision changes, such as double vision or flashes of light, sudden eye pain, or sudden headache, see your doctor right away.

Most cataracts develop when aging or injury changes the tissue that makes up the eye's lens. Proteins and fibers in the lens begin to break down, causing vision to become hazy or cloudy.

Some inherited genetic disorders that cause other health problems can increase your risk of cataracts. Cataracts can also be caused by other eye conditions, past eye surgery or medical conditions such as diabetes.

Long-term use of steroid medications, too, can cause cataracts to develop. A cataract is a cloudy lens. The lens is positioned behind the colored part of your eye iris. The lens focuses light that passes into your eye, producing clear, sharp images on the retina — the light-sensitive membrane in the eye that functions like the film in a camera.

As you age, the lenses in your eyes become less flexible, less transparent and thicker. Age-related and other medical conditions cause proteins and fibers within the lenses to break down and clump together, clouding the lenses. As the cataract continues to develop, the clouding becomes denser. A cataract scatters and blocks the light as it passes through the lens, preventing a sharply defined image from reaching your retina.

As a result, your vision becomes blurred. Cataracts generally develop in both eyes, but not always at the same rate. The cataract in one eye may be more advanced than the other, causing a difference in vision between eyes. Cataracts affecting the center of the lens nuclear cataracts. A nuclear cataract may at first cause more nearsightedness or even a temporary improvement in your reading vision.

But with time, the lens gradually turns more densely yellow and further clouds your vision. As the cataract slowly progresses, the lens may even turn brown. Advanced yellowing or browning of the lens can lead to difficulty distinguishing between shades of color. Cataracts you're born with congenital cataracts.

Some people are born with cataracts or develop them during childhood. Since cataracts tend to grow slowly, your eyesight will get worse slowly. Certain cataracts can also cause your close-up vision to get better for a short time. But your eyesight is likely to get worse as the cataract grows. The symptoms of cataracts may look like other eye conditions.

Talk with a healthcare provider for a diagnosis. Visual acuity test. The common eye chart test that measures vision ability at many distances. Pupil dilation. The pupil is widened with eye drops to allow a close-up exam of the eye's retina.

In addition, other tests may be done to help your eye care professional learn more about the health and structure of your eye. The symptoms of cataracts sometimes look like other conditions or medical problems. Always see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.

In its early stages, loss of eyesight caused by a cataract may be helped with the use of different eyeglasses, a magnifying glass, or stronger lighting.

When these actions are no longer helpful, surgery is the only effective treatment available. A cataract only needs to be removed when loss of eyesight gets in the way of your everyday activities, such as driving, reading, or watching TV. You and your eye healthcare provider can make that decision together. Cataract surgery is one of the most common surgeries. It is also one of the safest and most effective. Surgery involves swapping out the cloudy lens with a new lens.

If you have cataracts in both eyes, they are usually not taken out at the same time. Your eye healthcare provider will need to do the surgery on each eye separately.

Over time, cataracts will harm your vision. Cataract surgery can bring back your vision. However, a possible complication of cataract surgery is an "after-cataract. Unlike a cataract, an "after-cataract" can be treated with a method called YAG laser capsulotomy. The healthcare provider uses a laser beam to make a tiny hole in the cloudy membrane behind the lens to let the light pass through.

After-cataracts may develop months, or even years, after cataract surgery. You may experience halos around lights, multiple vision, and poor night vision. Colors may seem faded. In its early stages, vision loss caused by a cataract may be helped with the use of different eyeglasses, a magnifying glass, or stronger lighting.

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