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 |
