Cataract Surgery : Dr. Das is a best cataract surgeon in Kolkata

Cataract is possibly the leading public health factor with its increase growing with population and life expectancy increase. As age progresses, people have blurriness in their vision. Technically speaking, the cataract scatters the light as it passes through your lens, preventing a sharp image from reaching the retina. Since the sharper image does not reach the retina, the result is a vision which is blurred leading to improper vision. It should also be mentioned that even though the elderly are more susceptible to cataract, it is not that children and younger age groups cannot have cataract.

Cataracts are of different types:

• Nuclear cataract – Age related cataract: It is the most common cataract developed in elderly people. The nuclear cataract is found in the center of the eye lens which is the nucleus. The nucleus can be white or brown depending on the lens protein. Normally it is a white scatter due to the scattering of light. Once the cataract matures, it turns into yellow or brown. The lens gets hardened which is also known as ‘sclerosis’.
• Cortical Cataract – These kind of cataracts start as whitish wedge shaped opaque areas on the outer side of the lens cortex. Thereafter it starts growing inwards towards the centre of the eyes and looks like spokes of a wheel. On reaching the centre they block light which would pass through the nucleus of the lens. It should be treated immediately rather than waiting it to mature.
• Secondary cataract: Secondary cataracts also known as posterior sub capsular cataract typically occur after an eye surgery like glaucoma or retinal surgery. Patients with diabetes or patients taking steroid medicines can also develop cataracts. These cataracts are like opacities which forms on the back surface of the lens.
• Traumatic cataract: This type of cataract can develop due to eye injuries, chemical burns, electrocution or radiation exposure.
• Congenital Cataract – New born children: It is also a fact that infants can also have cataract for which immediate clinical correlation is needed. It can happen due to hereditary reasons and family histories in such cases are important to ascertain the reason of lens opacity. Infant cataracts can be dangerous in nature and can lead to blindness, therefore early detection and treatment is a must. Cataract surgery on an infant can only be decided when the intraocular pressure of the eyes are normal as high eye pressure can lead to secondary glaucoma. The timing of removal of such cataract also needs to be decided by the eye surgeon. Such is the impact of congenital cataract surgery that it is important to work closely with parents and train them in the handling of contact lenses for the child.