It’s safe to say that most people have heard of the termcataracts, but not many people actually know what they are. If you have a family history of cataracts, have a family member who has cataracts, or are nervous that they are something that you may get one day, then this article is just for you. From what cataracts are to how they can be treated, let’s take a closer look at a few of the basic things for you to know about this eye disease.
What Are Cataracts?
Have you ever looked at an elderly person and noticed that they had what looks like a film over their eyes? If so, then you have seen what cataracts look like. Cataracts are a cloudiness that develops over the eye’s natural lens which is behind the iris and the pupil. Typically, a patient who has cataracts experience: ‘
- Blurred vision
- Double vision
- Difficulty seeing at night
- Light sensitivity
- Seeing vibrant colors as faded colors, instead
How Can They Be Diagnosed?
With cataracts causing nearly 40% of blindness in Americans, it’s safe to say that they aren’t necessarily something that you want to mess with. The best thing that we encourage patients to do to catch cataracts early on so that we can treat them before they worse, is to come into our office for regular eye exams. During your annual eye exam, we won’t just check the quality of your vision to give you a new prescription, but we will also check your eyes for diseases like cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.
How Can They Be Treated?
Depending on the severity of your cataracts, we may recommend that you simply wear glasses on a regular basis or we may recommend cataract surgery. During cataract surgery, one of our eye doctors will remove your eye’s natural lens (the cloudy cataract) and replace it with an intraocular lens which is an artificial lens.
If you have a family history of cataracts, are experiencing symptoms of cataracts, or just want to be checked for them, then contact our Pontiac office today and call us at (248) 334-4931.
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