Cataract
What does cataract (or grey star) mean?
The opacity of the originally clear eye lens (or
crystalline) is described as cataract.
Cataract limits the sight increasingly, since the core of the
lens becomes increasingly opaque. Sight appears as through
frosted glass. In individual cases an increase in glare
sensitivity is also reported.
Cataract can have different causes; the most frequent, however, is due to old age (90%). In this form one therefore talks about age-related cataract. In most cases this occurs only after the age of 60 and is, in the strictest sense of the word, not an illness and can thus also be classified as innocuous in the highly developed countries with high standards.
Cataract can have different causes; the most frequent, however, is due to old age (90%). In this form one therefore talks about age-related cataract. In most cases this occurs only after the age of 60 and is, in the strictest sense of the word, not an illness and can thus also be classified as innocuous in the highly developed countries with high standards.
How is cataract treated?
If the slight initial opacity of the lens increases, an operation is the only possibility of treatment which will help to restore good sight. In the majority of cases the operation is successful and as a general rule without any pain, (consequently the operation does not constitute any great physical stress.), and thus represents an extremely low risk for the patient. Today, the cataract operation is therefore one of the most frequent operations undertaken. Year for year approximately 800,000 patients are operated for age-related cataract in Germany alone.
In the meantime the knowledge in operation techniques as well as of the manufacture of intraocular lenses is so profound, that in addition to the cataract itself ametropia existing prior to the cataract can be taken into consideration with regard to the selection of the lens. It is therefore potentially possible to integrate the power of your previous spectacles into the intraocular lens in accordance with the deterioration in sight, with the result that in the best of cases you will no longer require additional spectacles to look at distant objects.
