What is cataract?
The human eye is a very fine and complex optical instrument. If the eye is compared to a camera, the lens is the front lens of the camera. This causes the lens to change from bright to cloudy, which is called cataract. Cataract is one of the most common eye diseases, accounting for 25% to 50% of blindness. According to statistics, there are 20 million cataract patients in the world today, and the census in China shows that there are about 4 to 5 million cataract patients, of which nearly 2 million are blind and in need of surgery.
The main symptom of cataract is progressive vision loss, unilateral or bilateral, and the onset of cataract can be sequential in both eyes. Due to the clouding of the lens cortex, the refractive power varies in different areas, and there may be a sense of glare, or monocular diplopia and an increase in myopia. In some patients, the peripheral lens is clear in the early stages of the disease, while the lens on the optic axis is partially cloudy, resulting in increased visual acuity in dark places with dilated pupils and decreased visual acuity in bright places with narrow pupils. In some patients, although their vision is still good, the color of their vision becomes darker and their contrast sensitivity decreases.
So how can cataracts be effectively treated?
According to the current research results and clinical experience, there is no eye drop that can reverse the cloudy lens worldwide, which means no eye drug can cure cataract. However, some patients feedback that their vision does improve after using some eye drops, mostly because of the different manifestations of different degrees of lens clouding, or some patients have been relieved of symptoms such as dry eyes and visual fatigue after using eye drops.
Cataract ultrasound emulsification technology is an advanced and mature surgical technique recognized worldwide. During the surgery, an ultrasound probe is inserted deep into the small incision of the cornea or sclera of the operated eye to break the cloudy lens and cortex into a celiac state and then aspirated out with the help of suction and perfusion system. It has been introduced and promoted in China since 1992 and has now become the most mainstream surgical procedure.
Although cataract ultrasound emulsification surgery has gained popularity in China, not all cataract patients need surgery. Premature or late surgery is not good for our eye health and normal life.
At present, we believe that there are three categories of patients who need surgery: 1) patients with cloudy lens and corrected visual acuity less than 0.5; 2) patients whose other visual functions (such as color vision, contrast sensitivity, visual field, etc.) are seriously affected by cataract; 3) patients with other combined eye diseases that need to be prevented or treated by removing the cloudy lens. These three types of patients need to undergo cataract ultrasound emulsion aspiration combined with IOL implantation as soon as possible.
Finally, we suggest that if you have cataract, please go to the ophthalmology clinic in time, and the doctor will give you the most suitable treatment plan according to the degree of cataract and other comprehensive considerations.