Cataract

A cataract is a clouding or yellowing of the eye's normally clear lens. This lens, like the lens of a camera, focuses images passing through the eye to the retina. It is the size and shape of a transparent marble and is positioned just behind the iris (blue or brown part of the eye). Someone with a worsening cataract will perceive a worsening haziness to their vision as though they were looking through a progressively dirtier window.

Important facts about cataracts

No drops or pills can reverse the hazy vision caused by cataract.
Cataract surgery is the only way to improve hazy vision due to cataract.
A cataract is “ripe” when the doctor feels it is causing significant haziness of vision, and the patient feels surgery is his or her best option.

Before deciding whether cataract surgery is indicated, your doctor will:

check whether a change of glasses might delay the need for surgery
check for any other eye problems that could be contributing to hazy vision
evaluate whether you would be a good candidate for surgery
discuss with you how the cloudiness of your cataract is affecting your lifestyle

When is it time to have surgery?

This is a highly individual question and depends on the degree to which one's lifestyle is impacted by worsening vision. A sixty year-old pilot might choose surgery for a relatively moderate cataract while a ninety-five year old who prefers television to reading might defer surgery until his cataract made television difficult to enjoy. With rare exceptions, the decision to have cataract surgery is elective and can be postponed indefinitely if a patient chooses to do so.

For more information about cataracts and cataract surgery, click on these links.

National Eye Institute: Cataract

National Eye Institute: Las Cataratas

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