Thomas Oetting, MD, an ophthalmologist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about what cataracts are and how they are treated:
What is a cataract?
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside the eye. We have a lens in the eye that allows us to focus from far away to up close. As we get older, the lens becomes progressively harder, and so we notice that around age 40 or 45, we no longer can focus up close as well. As the lens puts on more years, it gets progressively harder and gets cloudy and that’s what we call a cataract.
How do cataracts form?
Typically, it’s just a matter of getting older. Some drugs can cause cataracts earlier in life, such as prednisone. Trauma can cause cataracts. There are certain other conditions such as radiation that can cause cataract formation. But in general, cataracts come as we get older.
Who is most likely to develop a cataract?
It’s typically someone that’s older. The typical age for cataract surgery in this country is around 74 years of age. But again, there are some special situations, such as following trauma or using certain medicines, that can produce cataracts earlier in life. And there are some families that develop cataracts younger than this typical age of mid-70s.
Can babies be born with cataracts?
You’re right; there are situations when babies are born with cataracts, but it’s unusual. Congenital cataract is the term we use to describe this. Sometimes a baby can have cataracts in both eyes, sometimes just one, but it’s very unusual.
Traditionally, how are cataracts treated?
They’re actually treated with surgery. In cataract surgery, what we do is replace the cloudy, natural lens with a clear, artificial lens.
Do cataracts re-form once they have been removed?
When we remove the cataract, of course we’re removing the lens, and so once the lens is removed, the cataract can’t really come back. However, there is a membrane that we keep in the eye and we use this membrane to support the artificial lens, and sometimes this membrane will become cloudy with time. It’s referred to as an after-cataract or a secondary cataract, and this is usually treated with a laser in the clinic.
Are there new techniques and advances in the treatment of cataracts that you and UI Hospitals and Clinics are currently working on?
There’s a lot of progression in the treatment for cataracts. Mainly, the advances in cataract surgery currently center on making it possible that patients need less power in their glasses following surgery. There are new lenses that allow us to correct for astigmatism and there are new artificial lenses that allow us to give patients near vision and far vision following cataract surgery. Cataract surgery has been a science that has progressed rapidly over the past years, and every six months there’s a new development in cataract surgery, and it’s a very exciting field of medicine. |
