Beverly Hills Vision Institute

Opthamologist, Optometrist, Eye Care - Beverly Hills, CA / Torrance, CA

Afshin James Khodabakhsh, MD

Beverly Hills Laser Eye Surgery

Cataracts are a progressive condition that cause the eye’s lens to become cloudy and eventually opaque. This leads to a dimming of vision which worsens over time. The exact cause of cataracts is unclear, but they occur in almost everyone as they age. They may be a result of exposure to ultraviolet rays or other factors, such as cigarette smoking, diet or alcohol. Cataracts can also occur as a result of injury, medication or diseases such as diabetes.

To diagnose cataracts, Dr. Khodabakhsh carefully evaluates the symptoms, which may include gradual deterioration of vision, objects appearing dull or blurred, reduction in night vision, the vision obstructed by glare in bright light, distortion of color perception and the loss of ability to focus on near objects. The patient then undergoes a complete eye exam, including tonometry, to measure the pressure in the eyes, and slit-lamp evaluation to look at the overall health of the eye and to asses the severity of the cataract formation. A careful examination of the retina and optic nerve is also performed.

For years it was thought that as our eyes aged, the ciliary muscle, which is responsible for allowing the eyes to change focus from far to intermediate and near, became inactive and gradually was unable to affect the focus of the lens. Since it was believed that the muscle could no longer focus the lens, there were only two kinds of replacement lenses available for cataract vision correction. Conventional cataract surgery offered a fixed focus lens that let the patient see primarily at a distance, or a multifocal lens, which divides the light presented to the eye with two points of focus, allowing the patient to see near with one point of focus and far on the other. Following conventional cataract surgery, almost everyone will need a pair of reading glasses to see up close.

With refractive cataract surgery, Dr. Khodabakhsh can drastically reduce dependence on distance and reading glasses following surgery by combining traditional cataract replacement lens that can focus on objects near and far, using the natural desire of the eye and brain to focus and to combine this with the ability to fine tune distance vision with LASIK.



What a cataract is not
A cataract is not a "film" over the eye, and neither diet nor lasers will make it go away. The best way to treat a cataract is to remove the old, clouded lens and provide a replacement.


Clear, normal-image vision

“Clouded” image of a cataract

Cataract Facts and Statistics

  • Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide and the number one cause of poor vision in the U.S .
  • Cataracts are extremely common; more than half of Americans age 65 and older have a cataract, and it is thought that nearly everyone will develop one if they live long enough .
  • The total number of persons who will have cataracts is estimated to rise to over 30 million by 2020 .
  • In over 90 percent of cases, cataracts are caused by the aging process .
  • Women have a significantly higher age-adjusted prevalence of cataract than men in the United States .
  • During middle age, usually beginning in their 40s, people experience blurred vision at near points (known as presbyopia), such as when reading, sewing or working at the computer .
  • Currently an estimated 90 million people in the United States either have presbyopia or will develop it by 2014 .
  • 135 million American adults wear prescription eyewear. This is 62 percent of the adult population (43 percent are men and 57 percent are women) .
  • More than one million Americans age 40 and over are blind from eye disease. An additional 2.3 million Americans are visually impaired .
  • About 120 million Americans wear eyeglasses or contact lenses to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism .