By Allison Hersh
For Coastal Senior

This simplified drawing of the eye shows the affect a cataract has on your vision. Cataracts cloud the path light takes through the eye, causing blurred or diminished vision.

How do you know? Symptoms of cataracts include reduced night vision, impaired depth perception, dull color perception and frequent eyeglass prescription changes. Cataracts initially change the eye's ability to focus, eventually affecting clarity of vision and color perception, making everyday activities - like reading, driving or working on the computer - nearly impossible. CATARACT RISK Although cataracts typically develop with age, the American Academy of Ophthalmology reports that the following factors can put some people at an increased risk for developing cataracts or other eye diseases: · Premature birth · Developmental delays · Personal of family history of cataracts or eye disease · Previous eye injury · Use of certain prescription medications (check with your eye doctor) · Patients with diabetes, HIV

Cataracts are the major cause of vision loss in the United States. Fortunately, they are also one of the most easily treated medical conditions, with more than a million cataract procedures performed each year across the country.

A cataract is the progressive clouding of the eye's lens, which is normally clear, causing a reduction in the amount of light that passes through the eye. Cataracts form slowly and painlessly over a period of years. If a cataract becomes large or thick, it can usually be removed by surgery.

"As the population gets older, we see more patients with cataracts," says Richard Schulze Jr., M.D., of the Schulze Eye Center in Savannah. "Most cataracts are associated with aging of the eye. If you live long enough, you're virtually guaranteed to develop a cataract."

With advances in technology, cataract surgery today is faster, more effective and more comfortable for the patient than ever before. Most patients can be in the doctor's office and on their way home after surgery within two hours, resuming normal activities almost immediately.

"It's the most successful surgical procedure ever," says Dr. Schulze. "Cataract surgery has a 98 to 99 percent success rate. It's an outpatient procedure that is, in virtually all cases, pain-free."

New surgical developments include no-stitch surgery, the use of topical anesthesia (rather than general sedation) and the development of artificial lenses that can help correct astigmatism and even replace bifocals. The use of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) also provides more accurate measurements of the eye's length, allowing doctors to calculate the best lens implant, resulting in improved vision.

Eye doctors typically use one of two techniques to remove a cataract. The clouded lens can either be removed through a tiny incision in the eye, or it can be dissolved using an ultrasound probe that breaks the lens apart and suctions it out of the eye. Ophthalmologists are increasingly using the latter technique, called phacoemulsification, which does not usually require stitches. In either case, an artificial corrective lens is subsequently implanted in the eye behind the iris. Although patients can resume normal activities almost immediately, it takes several months for the eye to heal completely.

Studies have shown that prolonged exposure to bright sunlight as well as poor nutrition can increase the risk of developing cataracts. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends that patients wear UVA/UVB blocking sunglasses to protect the eyes from the sun's ultraviolet rays and take anti-oxidant vitamins to retard the development of cataracts. Adults 65 and over should be examined every one to two years for age-related cataracts.