What is cataract and why does it occur?
A cataract is a natural lens inside the eye that is shaped like a lentil and in its pre-cataract state we call it the crystalline lens. Inside the eye there are different layers and in the innermost part, in the center, we have the crystalline lens which is completely transparent, and when it loses transparency is when we call it a cataract, that is, it is a natural lens that is no longer transparent. Like the glass of a window that over the years ends up with a lot of dust and loses its transparency. The causes are multiple, it can be by accident, by a blow that creates alteration of its structure, by a medication, a toxic … although the vast majority of cataracts are caused by age, the passage of time causes degeneration of tissues and produces the loss of transparency of the lens.
How does it manifest itself?
Cataract is manifested by a progressive loss of vision that often goes completely unnoticed because it is very slow, can last several years and often coincides with a decrease in work activity, when the person retires, so that their visual demands are reduced. It is often more advanced in one eye than in the other so that when the patient covers one eye he/she notices that the vision in the other eye fails and apart from a generalized blurriness it can create other symptoms such as flashes, reflections, double vision, instability, falls and in the most advanced stages a complete loss of vision.
Can it be prevented?
Cataracts today can not be prevented, have been tested with many medications and different methods to prevent the occurrence of cataracts but none have shown that it can prevent their occurrence.
What is the treatment and what are the advantages of laser treatment?
Most cataracts do not require any treatment because they allow you to lead a normal life. When the cataract has to be treated the only way is through an operation and nowadays microsurgery, miniaturized systems, are used. We use a system that looks like a pen, which is a micro aspirator that is used to aspirate the contents of the cataract and after the aspiration we replace this natural lens with an artificial lens. Nowadays, with cataract surgery, in addition to restoring transparency, we can graduate and allow the patient not to wear glasses, for example through a diffractive lens that allows good distance and near vision without glasses or a toric lens that allows good vision in patients with high astigmatism. As for the laser, we can say that it is a high precision instrument, with very important theoretical advantages, but so far, in practice, it has not demonstrated its advantages over the conventional system. Today the laser is longer, more painful and with more uncertain and less contrasted long-term results.