What is Cataract?
A cataract is the opacity of the natural eyepiece behind the pupil that loses its transparency and dulls. In other words, vision is distorted as if looking through a misted glass. Due to aging, cataracts, a slight dulling and hardening of the eyepiece begin at an average age of 55-60 years. The eye lens consists mainly of water and protein. It takes its transparency from the special structures of the proteins it contains and thus ensures complete transmission of light. As the water and protein structure changes with age, transparency begins to decrease in certain areas of the lens. Aging and diminishing transparency of the lens decreases the light transmittance over time and cataracts occur. Cataracts usually occur slowly.
What are the symptoms?
Sensitivity to light, glare
Double vision
Difficulty reading
Detailed inability to see at dusk and foggy weather
Night vision deterioration and scattering of lights
Fading and yellowing of colors
Frequent change of glasses numbers
Disturbance of car headlights and strain while driving
Glare or reduced sensitivity to light
What are the Cataract Risk Factors?
Although cataract is usually associated with aging, high myopia, diabetes, some metabolic diseases, another disease due to long-term use of systemic cortisone, diabetes can occur due to such reasons. In addition, long-term exposure to ultraviolet (sunlight) rays, family history of cataracts starting at an early age or eye trauma, such as cataracts can be seen at an earlier age. In addition, smoking, excessive alcohol use, high blood pressure, obesity and cholesterol lowering statin group drugs can accelerate the formation of cataracts.
How We Treat Cataract Disease
Cataracts cannot be treated with medication or glasses, and surgery is the only treatment.
How is Cataract Surgery Performed?
Today, cataract can be treated successfully by surgery. In this surgery, which is completely seamless thanks to advanced technology, the device can be inserted through a tiny entrance of approximately 2.8 mm and the cataract natural lens is taken from the eye using ultrasound energy and a transparent artificial lens is placed in the same place anatomically instead.
Cataract surgery can be performed without needles, without narcosis, without pain and usually the patient can return home on the same day. It is a daily process and is usually performed by regional anesthesia, ie, drip anesthesia. In rare cases, general anesthesia may also be required by anesthetizing the eye area with injection.
The transfer of the patient to the operating room, pre-operative preparation, the operation takes place and the patient is taken back to bed takes less than 1 hour. After the operation, the bandage is glued onto the eye and told to rest, then the patient's eye drops are prescribed and discharged.
The experience of the physician, the quality of the lens put into the eye is very important for the success of the surgery.
In recent years, studies and technology have been mostly on artificial lens. Today, there are both single-focus lenses, which we call monofocal, and smart lenses, also known as trifocal. The superiority of the trifocal lens to monofocal is that the patient provides quality vision both at close vision and at distant view and at intermediate distances. We recommend patients to be conscious and researcher about the lens to be fitted.
