We are all born with a natural lens inside our eye called the crystalline lens. As its name suggests, it is as clear as crystal at birth. Over our lifetime this lens goes through age-related changes that make it start to lose its transparency and become cloudy. This cloudy lens is known as a cataract.
Why do they appear?
The most common cause of cataracts is age. These changes can be seen from about age 50. All of us will develop cataracts at some point in our lives. Age-related cataracts are not pathological — in medicine, pathological is a synonym for disease — so having cataracts does not make your eye a diseased eye.
However, other systemic conditions can make this clouding happen faster, such as diabetes mellitus. Studies have also shown that unprotected exposure to UV rays can speed up cataract formation. There are also conditions inside the eye that can cause them. These are known as secondary cataracts, and they can occur because of intraocular inflammation such as uveitis, or eye trauma.
Symptoms
The most common symptom of a cataract is reduced vision. It can also cause light distortion or difficulty seeing in low light. Beyond the amount of vision, cataracts reduce the quality of vision, affecting contrast sensitivity and color saturation.
Treatment
Fortunately, cataract treatment is very simple, with a surgery called phacoemulsification. During this procedure we make a very small, millimetric incision in the clear cornea, and through it we insert an instrument that uses ultrasound to break up the cataract and remove it. In its place we implant an intraocular lens calculated for each patient's eye, to provide the greatest possible independence from glasses. This intraocular lens is permanent and never needs to be replaced.
It is a painless, outpatient, quick and effective procedure for restoring patients' vision.
