June is National Cataract Awareness Month, which serves as an opportunity to share key information regarding this commonly overlooked eye condition. It also serves as a reminder to schedule your annual eye exam to maintain good eye health. But what exactly is a cataract?
As you age, the clear lens in your eye starts to harden and lose its flexibility. This is why, as you get older, you may need reading glasses to compensate for the lack of flexibility in your lens, which prevents it from bending and changing its shape to see items up close. Another key change to your lens is that the proteins begin to break down, causing your lens to become cloudy. Besides age, there are many other contributing factors to cataracts, such as previous eye trauma, diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, excessive alcohol consumption, steroid use, family history of early cataracts, UV exposure, and obesity. According to the National Library of Medicine, cataracts account for 50% of blindness worldwide.
Just like grey hair, eventually, everyone will get cataracts. Although the age range for cataracts can vary, the median age for cataract surgery is 67. Age-related cataracts generally progress slowly, and without treatment, will eventually lead to blindness. Early stages of cataracts can be treated at home by using brighter lights, wearing anti-glare sunglasses, and using magnifying devices. A new prescription from your doctor for glasses or contacts can also help improve your vision during this time.
Eventually, cataract surgery will be needed to restore your vision. The eye surgeon, known as an ophthalmologist, will remove your cloudy natural lens and replace it with an artificial lens called an intraocular lens (IOL). There are different categories of lens implants available: Monofocal, Multifocal, Extended Depth of Focus, Toric, and Light Adjustable lenses (LAL).
• Monofocal lenses have one focal point, either for distance vision or near (reading) vision. Although most patients typically choose one type of vision for both eyes, some patients will choose to treat one eye for distance and one for reading. This type of vision is called monovision and provides blended vision. Sometimes, monovision is unable to provide a good mid-range or intermediate vision zone, leaving that area a bit blurry. Patients choosing monovision may need to perform a contact lens trial first to assure that their brain will neuro-adapt to this new vision before surgery makes blended vision permanent.
• Multifocal lenses have multiple focal points and allow patients to see near, middle, and far with each eye. The inherent nature of the multifocal lens may cause patients to notice rings and starbursts around point sources of light (headlights, street lamps, etc.), especially at night. Most patients aren’t bothered by this, and the few that are will typically adapt and be okay after a few months.
• Extended Depth of Focus (EDOF) lenses provide far and mid-range vision. Mid-range vision is a distance of 20-40 inches away, such as your car dashboard, a computer screen, includes tasks like visualizing price tags in the store, and activities like painting, cooking, gardening, or hitting a golf ball. EDOF lenses can help with near vision, but needing to wear over the counter readers should be expected.
• Toric lenses are specially designed to correct astigmatism (when one’s eye is shaped more like a football instead of a spherical object like a baseball). Most monofocal, multifocal, and extended depth of focus lenses have a toric version.
• Light Adjustable lenses (LAL) have the capability to correct astigmatism and provide range in vision. What makes the LAL unique is that it is the only implant that can have its power adjusted after it is implanted. This allows for the patient’s vision to be fine-tuned by a UV light delivery device before it is permanently locked in.
Regular eye check-ups are crucial because they help detect cataracts early. When doctors find cataracts early, they can monitor them and discuss how best to treat them. Call us at 262-637-0500 or click Request an Appointment to schedule your exam today!
