LIVEWELL MINUTE: Cataract Surgery

Approximately 60 percent of individuals older than 60 years of age have cataracts. Because cataracts can seriously impair your vision, they can limit or even prevent you from working or enjoying many of the activities important to your life.

Dr. Ejaz Husain, MD; UnityPoint Health Eye Surgery/ Laser Eye Center says, “A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside the eye. As a part of the normal aging process, chemical changes in the lens can cause it to become cloudy. Some patients notice a gradual painless blurring of vision, double vision in one eye or yellowing of colors.”

Cataracts are one of the leading causes of blindness around the world; however, in most cases vision loss from cataracts is reversible. New techniques developed over the past decade have made cataract surgery one of the most successful procedures available in terms of restoring quality of life to patients.

Dr. Husain says, “Cataract surgery is most often done as an outpatient procedure, and because we use small incisions, many patients don’t even need stitches. The cloudy natural lens can be replaced with an artificial lens to give the eye proper focusing power.”

Follow this link for more information on cataract surgery from UnityPoint Health.