According to statistics, global blindness due to cataracts has been ranked as the number one blindness-causing eye disease. Longer life span, longer sun exposure and high UV radiation in the elderly are the primary factors contributing to the high incidence of cataracts. According to the criteria proposed by the World Health Organization, if you are over the age of 50, your vision is less than 0.7, your doctor finds that your lens is cloudy and no other eye disease causing vision loss is found. Sorry, you have an age-related cataract. Dr. Zhou Hongjian, chief physician, introduces the common clinical symptoms of cataract: unexplained slow vision loss, blurred vision, distortion of vision, and in some cases, double vision or multiple vision in one eye; unclear vision outdoors or in strong light, but see more clearly indoors or in low light; the degree of presbyopia slowly decreases, even without the need to wear the previous presbyopic glasses, or the original myopia, but the myopia is getting bigger and bigger.
When your ophthalmologist gives you a diagnosis of senile cataract and you do not need surgery in the short term, you should follow your doctor’s instructions and have regular checkups, which have many benefits. First of all, through regular eye examinations and the selection of appropriate glasses, most patients with early cataracts can obtain satisfactory vision. In addition, through regular checkups, various diseases that often accompany cataracts or are caused by cataracts, such as glaucoma, fundus hemorrhage, diabetic fundus lesions and retinal detachment, can be detected early to avoid irreversible and serious consequences due to missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
So when is the best time for cataract surgery? Is it true, as some people say, that you should wait until the cataract is mature and completely invisible before you have surgery? President Zhou thinks the answer is no. Considering the economic situation and the huge number of cataracts in China, generally cataracts with visual acuity below 0.3 are considered for surgery, while from the patient’s point of view, as long as you feel that the cataract has hindered your normal life and work to varying degrees, you can request surgery.
In terms of surgical technique, as long as your lens is cloudy and your visual acuity is below 0.6, you are ready for surgery. Modern advanced equipment technology (such as domestic advanced 1.8mm micro-incision cataract ultrasound emulsification and femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery) combined with multi-functional IOL implantation can fully meet your requirements. According to President Zhou, when choosing appropriately early cataracts for ultrasonic emulsification surgery, doctors will find it easier to complete the surgery, and many diseases such as glaucoma caused by overripe cataracts or swollen crystals rarely occur in such cases, and the postoperative results are more desirable.