so having a cataract in the eye is one of the most common eye diseases and sources of
vision loss worldwide there's a good chance that your eye doctor has asked you if cataracts runs
in your family but what exactly is a cataract in this video we're going to explain cataracts going
over what causes them what symptoms somebody may experience when they have them and then
ultimately what treatment options are there for a cataract that's today's video let's get into it
hello and welcome this is dr allen here from the dr eye health show helping you learn all about the
eyes vision finding the best vision products now today's video is all about cataracts and
explaining cataracts simply but this is part one of a complete series to help people learn about
cataracts so if you're recently diagnosed or maybe a family member has it you can better understand
what's going on as well as the next steps such as treatment through cataract surgery as well as
extra tips just to help people better understand along that entire process so first of all
what are cataracts within the eye now to better explain this i have a little eye model here that
way i can show you what's happening now the front surface of the eyeball that's called the cornea
but if i was to open up the eye and we could look inside behind the iris the colored part
of the eye there is in fact what is called a crystalline lens now this lens is usually
clear and it helps focus light to the back of the eye to help you see but for some reason whether
it be genetics trauma medication use or other environmental factors this lens starts to change
little protein changes and oxidation cause this lens to go from crystal clear to start to become
cloudy and eventually can become fully opaque and that is in fact what we call a cataract
something you may find interesting is that during an eye exam your eye doctor can usually see the
crystalline lens inside the eye but if that lens starts to become cloudy we can see it first turn
kind of a subtle yellow color and eventually can become a full cloudy white milky appearance which
appears very similar to the white frothy look of water coming down from a waterfall which is also
called a cataract in fact that's where the name cataract of the eye comes from just kind of a cool
tidbit at that i'd mention so now that we know what cataracts are let's talk about the symptoms
of cataracts the symptoms that somebody may experience from a cataract can be a bit variable
depending on how severe that cataract inside the eye is most people who develop a cataract develop
it very slowly over time so some people especially if it's early or just a mild cataract developing
they may not have any symptoms at all but usually the first symptoms that somebody will experience
is that of vision changes it could come just as a changing of somebody's glasses prescription
changing a whole bunch you know from just maybe one year to the next or some people may just
end up having very blurred vision to the point where even with the best glasses of contact lens
prescription they still can't see very well such as 20/20 maybe they just can't see that and that's
because this cataract inside the eye is becoming opaque and they can no longer see through it
another very common symptom of cataract is that of glare this usually is seen when someone is staring
at bright light sources especially if they're driving at night time i know a lot of people
will say that when they're driving at night the headlights they just drive them crazy they get a
lot of glare and they can't see very well and it's often due to something like a cataract developing
that's because light going inside the eye hits the cataract and the light scatters in different
directions and as a consequence because of this people with cataracts often have difficulty in
dim light situations another interesting symptom of cataracts is that of color perception changes
this usually is not something that people come to the eye clinic knowing that they're having but
it's something that they often note after having treatment for cataracts such as with cataract
surgery and they have one cataract fixed but still have the cataract in one eye and they can kind
of look back and forth and be like wow everything is white and sharp and clear in the eye i've been
treated but everything in the other eye seems again kind of cloudy or things just seem kind
of yellow or off-white but again color perception changes can be a symptom now let's talk a little
bit about what causes cataracts now there are many things that influence the development of cataracts
particularly genetics plays a role and some studies show about 35 to 50 percent of all
cataract development is related to genetics hence why doctors often ask if cataracts runs
in your family now some babies can be born with a cataract in the form of a congenital cataract and
cataracts can even form from things like trauma if you get hit in the eye really hard but outside
of these conditions cataracts largely form due to different environmental factors risk factors
include things like elevated blood sugars smoking alcohol consumption medication use especially some
sort of corticosteroid whether it's an oral medication or a topical form of eye drop all
of these different factors have been associated with elevated oxidation within the body and the
development of cataracts now a major part of the cataract development is that over the course of
your lifetime you're going to experience more of these environmental factors and so over somebody's
lifetime we do see that just with age people tend to develop cataracts enough so where a lot
of people just getting into their 60s 70s and 80s they are likely to develop some form of cataracts
inside the eye so again cataracts are very common eye disease just because almost everybody will get
them as they get older however the big important thing about cataract development is not whether
or not you're going to get it but how severe it's going to be and if it affects your vision to the
point where you need them treated and that brings us to the treatment for cataracts now the primary
treatment for cataracts of the eye is cataract surgery where a surgeon would remove the cataract
that's developing inside the eye and then replace that cataract with an artificial lens now what's
really cool about cataract surgery is not only is it a very efficient and safe procedure but it also
is very similar to having a refractive procedure done at the same time similar to having LASIK done
and what i mean is that during cataract surgery not only does your surgeon remove the lens but
the implant that they're putting inside the eye can be calculated to help adjust and accommodate
for your need for glasses so if you happen to be somebody who's nearsighted or farsighted and
you don't want to be so dependent upon things like glasses anymore in many cases they can
accommodate for that prescription when they do the surgery when it comes to cataract surgery
there are different implants that surgeons will recommend for patients if they want to consider
maybe less dependency on glasses and there's a lot of options out there and there's even price
differences depending on those options so i do plan to have videos going more in depth into those
different lens options so definitely keep a look out for those and if you're not subscribed to the
channel yet definitely hit the subscribe button and ring the bell that way you'll get notified
when those videos come out a good question a lot of people ask is when do you need cataract surgery
i think from a practical standpoint it's when somebody's vision is deteriorated by that cataract
to a point where they're just not functioning well so for many people it's when their vision is not
20/20 and even with best glasses and contact lenses they they can't see 20/20 they can't
really see very well things are always blurry at that point many eye doctors will at least start
discussing cataract surgery as an option there are scenarios however where patients may still be
able to see the chart and read 20/20 but because of factors like glare and their quality of life
is significantly decreased at that point if they have bad enough symptoms and your
doctor can say confidently that yes it's due to the cataract development then you still may
qualify for something like cataract surgery then there are of course few medical scenarios where
doctors will recommend cataract surgery earlier such as in the scenario where a cataract may be
increasing the risk for glaucoma development at that point doctors will sometimes recommend it
otherwise the decision to have cataract surgery is always on you or the patient
because no doctor is going to force you to have that procedure if you don't want it but don't
be surprised that if you do have a cataract that your doctor may recommend having cataract surgery
earlier rather than later because we know that due to those different environmental factors and just
over time cataracts do progress and get worse and for some people with really dense cataracts your
surgeon ends up having to use more energy during that procedure and that may increase the chances
of different risks for complications and so i know a lot of doctors do recommend cataract
surgery earlier rather than waiting later but again that's a question very specific for
your eye doctor and where cataracts may be in your eyes which part of this video did you find
most interesting or most helpful and let us know if you've ever been diagnosed with cataracts and
if you have any symptoms now again treatment for cataracts and cataract surgery can be life
changing so the next few videos in this series are going to be discussing cataract surgery more kind
of answering questions about lens implants as well as sharing tips on how to prepare for cataract
surgery both before as well as understanding what life's going to be like afterwards and again i'll
put a link to that next video of the series in the description right below that like button
thanks so much for watching keep an eye on it keep an eye on it and we'll see in the next one