A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens of your eye. There is a lens (lens) in the eye that we all have from birth. The lens and the lens are called by different names in public and as a medical language, but they both refer to tissue exactly. The lens inside our eye changes its shape, allowing the eye to see clearly compared to intervals. In other words, it ensures that the visual cells are sent clearly to the retina to create clear images of objects at various distances. As long as the image coming from the lens is blurred, the image carried from the retina will also be blurry. Although the other layers of the eye are perfectly healthy, only the clouding of the lens roughens the person’s vision.
For people with cataracts, the world they see is about to look through a slightly frosted or misted window. Blurred vision caused by cataracts can make it difficult to read, drive (especially at night), or see the expression on a friend’s face.
Many cataracts develop slowly and do not impair your early vision. But over time, cataracts eventually affect your vision and change your quality of life.
Factors that increase your risk of kata include:
CAUSES OF CATARACT
There is a team of building blocks inside our lens, the most valuable of which are proteins and water. Cataracts start when proteins in the eye form clumps or undergo structural changes that prevent the lens from sending clear images to the retina. As the water content of the lens decreases with age or for medical reasons, which I will list below, the size of water-insoluble proteins increases. The lens hardens, its flexibility and transparency decrease. The decrease in the transparency of the lens with age is actually a module of the normal aging process.
As the cataract continues to develop, the clouding becomes heavier and includes a larger portion of the lens. A cataract distorts the view as it passes through the lens, preventing the image from reaching your retina. As a result, your vision becomes blurred.
Cataracts often develop in both favors, but not equally. The cataract in one eye may be more advanced than the other and may cause a difference in vision in the middle of the eyes.
Factors that increase your risk of cataracts include:
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advancing age
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Trauma
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Diabetes
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too much exposure to sunlight
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To smoke
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Obesity
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Hypertension
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Previous eye injury or inflammation
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previous eye surgery
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Long-term use of corticosteroid drugs
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Radiotherapy
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excessive drinking of alcohol
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The cause of senile cataract is complex and still not fully elucidated. The load and thickness of the lens increase with age and the power of harmony decreases.
SYMPTOMS OF CATARACT
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The development of cataract and its symptoms is often a slow process.
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blurred vision; At first, you may not be aware of a random loss of vision because the blurring of your vision caused by a cataract affects only a small part of the lens of the eye. As the cataract progresses, it causes your lens to blur more and distorts the view passing through the lens. This can obviously lead to complaints. First of all, your far vision and then your near vision will deteriorate. Here, a situation that generally misleads the patients is the word talk; With the development of cataract, myopia increases and the patient’s relative may begin to see better than before for a short time. However, with the progression of the cataract, both distance and near vision are clearly impaired.
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Changes in color vision: patients generally see colors as pale and yellowish, and the first thing patients describe after surgery is that the colors become brighter.
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The person needs brighter light for reading and other activities. Since the light passes through the lens with a cataract is less, the person needs more light than before.
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Problems seeing in bright light (car lights at night). Cataracted areas inside the lens are not uniform throughout the lens and undergo different refraction as light passes through blurred and transparent areas, causing glare and scattering of lights. Also, the person complains of seeing “halos” around lights
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No pain. The lens inside our eye has a veinless and nerveless structure, so there is no occasional pain during the development of cataract.
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Frequent changes in eyeglass or contact lens prescription
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Single favorite double vision
When to see a doctor
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If you notice a random change in your vision, double vision, scattering of lights, make an appointment for an eye exam.
TYPES OF CATARACT
Cataracts are examined under 3 headings depending on age.
Childhood Cataracts: These are cataracts that can occur in children of any age from birth. It occurs with the deterioration of the stability of the water and proteins in the above-mentioned lens from birth. These cataracts may be due to an infection or trauma in the womb, or they may be genetic.
Middle Age Cataracts: These are early stage cataracts that occur due to intraocular infections, trauma, drugs used or some systemic diseases.
Old age cataract: It is the most common type of cataract. Occurs as a natural process of aging
DIAGNOSIS OF CATARACT
Your doctor will do a comprehensive eye exam to check for cataracts and evaluate your vision.
The first stage is a vision test to check your vision at different intervals. This test evaluates the hardness and clarity of your vision. Each eye is tested differently for its ability to see letters of different sizes.
Biomicroscopic examination: Your ophthalmologist will examine the cornea, iris, lens, and other areas in front of and behind the eye. A special microscope, the biomicroscope, makes it easy to detect abnormalities in all layers of the eye.
Your intraocular pressure will be measured, and it will also be tested for other abnormalities, such as glaucoma, apart from the cataract. Your doctor will also put drops in your eyes to enlarge your pupils to examine your retina and vision. This makes it easier to check for damage to the optic border and retina at the back of your eye.
Other tests your doctor may do include checking your sensitivity to glare and your perception of colors. It can also include different tests if necessary.
CATARACT TREATMENT
According to the clinic and the patient’s expectations (social status, occupation, age) in all patients diagnosed with cataract, the only treatment is surgery. There is no random drug treatment to prevent cataracts. The progress of the cataract and the time it takes to reach the operative level depend on the individual structural characteristics of each person.
CATARACT SURGERY
During cataract surgery, your eye surgeon will remove the cloudy natural lens of your eye. As I explained at the beginning, since the natural lens of the person allows the objects to be seen clearly and the objects in different ranges to be focused, an artificial lens will need to be replaced when the blurred lens that has lost its function is removed. This new lens is called the intraocular lens (or IOL). When you decide to have cataract surgery, your doctor will talk to you about IOLs and how they work.
Cataracts are a very common cause of people losing their sight, but it is treatable. You and your ophthalmologist should discuss your cataract complaints. You can decide together whether you are ready for cataract surgery.
However, there is one exception that surgery is urgent in congenital cataracts. Because if congenital cataracts are not taken in the middle of the first 0-7 years of age, when the visual system develops, the visual system will get used to seeing as blurred, this will cause lazy eye and even if cataracts are removed in the future, the child’s vision will not improve.
In individuals who have had cataract surgery, their vision may become blurred again years later. Patients may perceive this as cataract has developed again, but because the intraocular lens is removed and cataract is a disease of the lens, cataract will never develop again. The reason for this is the clouding of the eye capsule, that is, the membrane surrounding the cataract. It is very valuable for this membrane to stay in place and hold the lens in the first 6 months, but within 6 months, this membrane is no longer needed because the intraocular lens sticks to its location. Your ophthalmologist may use a yag-laser to open the cloudy capsule and provide clear vision. This is called a capsulotomy. After capsulotomy, the person can regain clear vision.
PREVENTION OF CATARACT;
Nothing is guaranteed to stop cataract formation. More than once, they occur as we age.
However, if you can limit some of the risk factors listed below, you can slow the rate of cataract development.
• Wearing sunglasses during the day to reduce your eyes’ exposure to the sun’s UV radiation.
• Quitting smoking.
• Maintaining a healthy diet and training regimen, even with light physical activity such as walking.
• Managing the effects of existing conditions such as diabetes or hypertension and keeping these diseases under control.
• To ensure that the developing cataract is diagnosed as early as possible and to have frequent eye examinations in order not to delay the timing of the surgery.
