What are cataracts? Symptoms, causes and treatments

The crystalline lens is a lens located inside the eye, normally clear, which allows light to pass through easily. The lens helps focus light on the retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye) so that you can see things clearly.

It is composed mainly of water and proteins. These are arranged in a special way so that the lens is completely transparent and light can pass through easily. Over time, the proteins clump together, the lens becomes opaque and makes vision difficult.

Cataracts prevent you from seeing clearly because light cannot easily pass through the protein clumps in your lens. Your lenses may also turn yellow or brown, which can change the way you see colors.

Symptoms of cataracts

Blurry vision, as if through fogged-up glass. You may notice that colours lose intensity. Sometimes there are changes in your prescription, you see worse from a distance and it seems as if you no longer need glasses for reading.

Depending on the type of cataract and where it is located and its evolution, it affects in a different way. In general, the patient with cataracts reports that they see as if they were foggy, Vision becomes blurred, making it difficult to see fine details and perceive the brightness and intensity of colors. For this reason, it is also common feeling of seeing the world as “dull” or “colorless.”

Due to the cataracts,Some patients also have increased sensitivity to light and are easily dazzled. in the sun or the headlights of cars and streetlights at night.

Cataract patients lose quality of life, although, as cataracts tend to progress slowly and progressively, it is common to get used to them and not realize the full impact they can have on daily life, compromising activities such as, for example, driving safely.

When to have cataract surgery

It is important to note that it is not necessary to wait until cataracts are very advanced to operate on them.

In general, When it affects our daily activities, it is time to operate.

Each case is unique and there are types of cataracts and eyes that are advisable to operate on early to avoid surgical trauma when treating a more severe cataract. The ophthalmologist will advise you when is the best time to avoid secondary complications.

Causes

Age is the most related factor. From the age of sixty.

High myopiametabolic diseases such as Diabetes or hypothyroidism They are generally related to the early appearance of cataracts.

Long-term treatment with corticosteroidseye inflammations such as uveitis. Prolonged exposure to solar radiation, trauma.

In some not very frequent cases, Cataract can be congenital. Surgery must then be very early.

Treatment

The treatment for cataracts is surgery. Through a small incision, the layers of the cataractous lens are separated, fragmented with ultrasound, and the fragments are aspirated.

After this, we introduce a folded intraocular lens that remains lodged inside the empty crystalline lens.

The lens we implant can correct distance vision, monofocal, or both distance and near vision, multifocal lens.

We can also correct astigmatism with toric lenses.

Are waterfalls coming back?

No, the cataract will not reappear again.

People who have had cataract surgery may experience blurred vision again after several years. This is usually because the posterior lens capsule has become cloudy. The capsule is the part of the eye that holds the intraocular lens in place.

Your ophthalmologist may use a laser to open the cloudy capsule and restore clear vision. This is called a capsulotomy.

If the progression of the cataract has been very slow, you may have become accustomed to seeing with an opaque lens. However, after the operation, you will notice the change that comes with having solved the problem. As if you were seeing in high definition.

We would like to thank Dr. Esther Núñez, ophthalmologist at Viamed Montecanalfor their valuable collaboration in the preparation of this article. Their experience and knowledge have been fundamental in providing accurate and quality information. If you have any concerns or need an ophthalmological consultation, we invite you to make an appointment at Viamed Salud, where you will be in the hands of professionals committed to your visual well-being.