How does cataract develop?

Cataract is a haze of the natural lens inside the eye. This lens, which is found behind the iris (the colored part of the eye) is capable of moving and changing shape, so that it functions exactly like the lens of a camera, by focusing bright images on the retina, which, in turn, sends them to your brain.

The human lens, consisted mainly of protein and water, can present some haze, in such a degree that the light and images are not allowed to reach the retina
Eye damage, certain disorders or even some medicines can cause this haze. In more than 90% of the cases, however, this haze is cause by the aging process. Cataract isn't a deposition in the eye and cannot be removed with diet or laser. The best way to treat cataract is to remove the old, hazy lens and to replace it with an artificial one. This artificial lens is called intraocular lens.

Cataract can be the cause of the blurring of clear images, the dimming of bright colors or a decrease in vision at night. It is also possible that it is the reason why reading or bifocal glasses that used to help you read or perform simple tasks, cannot help you any longer. Unfortunately, it is not feasible to prevent cataract, but only to remove and replace it with an artificial lens which can restore your vision and significantly improve quality of life. The proper time to remove cataract is when the quality of your vision starts causing restrictions in your activities and your enjoyment of life.

What is presbyopia?

When your eyes were young, your natural lens was transparent and flexible. For that reason, your eyesight was probably stable until the age of forty. During that period, you might have observed that you needed to start holding a menu or a book increasingly further away form your eyes to be able to read. This fact is caused by the gradual inability of the natural lens to function properly and provide good vision at close distance.

Many people end up wearing a pair of reading or bifocal glasses to compensate this aging of the eye.

This situation is called “presbyopia” and affects everyone in the end, including those with myopia, cataract or perfect vision during a significant part of their lives.

Presbyopia is the most usual vision disorder. Today, with the increase of life expectancy, most people will spend half or even more of their lives with presbyopia.

Development:

For most cataract patients, life without reading or bifocal glasses is something they either experienced before presbyopia or just dreamed about during a large part of their lives. Today, however, the multifocal intraocular lens can make these dreams come true with its revolutionary technology, which is designed to allow patients to see clearly at every distance without bifocal lenses or reading glasses. The intraocular multifocal lens is available today and provides cataract patients with a high level of vision without glasses.

UNIFOCAL INTRAOCULAR LENSES:

Until recently, most patients improved their vision with a unifocal intraocular lens.

Despite the quality of their distant vision being exceptional, most patients needed reading glasses to look at close objects.

Good distant vision, but blurry up close.

MULTIFOCAL INTRAOCULAR LENSES (IOLs):

The intraocular multifocal lens provides a full field of vision, decreasing dependence on reading glasses or bifocal lenses.

During clinical studies, 90% of patients who were implanted with a multifocal intraocular lens reported that they never wear glasses for any activity. They can also read a book, work on the computer and drive a car during the day or night, play and read with their grandchildren, with more freedom than they had with glasses. Patients were indeed so satisfied with their eyesight that almost 94% of them reported that they would implant the intraocular multifocal lens again, if given the choice.

 
Restor IOL          Good distant and close vision.

The safest and most successful procedure performed today:

A cataract surgery usually requires a few hours from the patient's time from beginning to end. The patient will feel minimal or no discomfort. First, a small incision will be made in the eye, which will allow the surgeon to use a small instrument (the size of the nib of a pen) to break down or wash away the blurry cataract. As soon as the cataract is removed, an intraocular lens will be inserted though the same incision and will be secured in its permanent position.

a)                                                          b)

 

c)                                                         d)

What should one expect after the surgery:

After the procedure, you will rest for a short amount of time before returning home. Typically, the doctor will examine the eye within 24 hours. You will need eye drops, given with prescription, to protect from a potential infection and to help with the healing of your eye. For a few days, you might need a protective patch, so as to avoid rubbing your eye.

Healing is achieved a bit differently for each patient, but most patients can see fairly well to go back to their regular activities the very next day of the procedure. The patient should know that he will start experiencing a new visual system. During the first postoperative stages, his brain will learn to use the new way of processing visual information.

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